Aster and Zinnia have met for the first time! What will they say to each other? Will they become fast friends right away?

KedharS: Friendship? *Cries in gay Lila*

JoshGamerV: A few.

Aquahaze675: Nah, probably not.

Thunder Fire: The Draconids will be relevant to the story, I can promise that. Whether we'll actually go there or not is another matter.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 527

"Ah!" Aster gasped, her mouth falling open as she stared at the tan girl standing in the spring. "A-a-a-a… um…"

The tanned girl slid a little further behind the rock, clearly startled by what she saw.

"W-w-w-wait!" Aster said, standing up and rushing toward the edge of the small lake. Her anxiety was put aside, she was too scared to worry about sounding like a weirdo in front of other people, she was lost and maybe this girl would know the way back.

"…Yes?" Red eyes peeked back out from behind the rock.

"M-m-my n-name is A-Aster," Aster said, cursing the fact that even now she couldn't get a sentence out without stuttering. "C-Can you h-help me?"

"…Mother says I'm not allowed to talk to outsiders," the quiet girl replied.

Aster didn't know what to say about that. She hadn't thought until now what the girl was doing here, but now she was. She couldn't get a good look at the other girl from behind the rock, but she looked to be about her age. So what was she doing here? Bathing deep in a cave? She hadn't heard of anyone living around here, besides Rustboro the closest town to Meteor Falls was Fallarbor Town, right? Maybe she was from there? Maybe Fallarbor Town didn't have bathtubs. No, that was dumb. Everybody had a bath, right? Or at least a shower?

"Outsiders? So y-you live here?" Aster guessed.

The other girl's eyes widened as she realized what she had just said and let out a tiny gasp, ducking back behind the rock with a splash.

"B-Bagon…" the girl meekly called from behind the rock.

Aster was shy but she wasn't dumb.

"P-Please, I-I just… I w-wanna go b-back home…" Aster stuttered. "I'm l-l-lost… a-and this S-Swablu is injured… I-I-I n-need to h-help her…"

The girl behind the rock listened to this strange girl talking. She frowned. She wasn't sure what to do. Her parents had made it clear, the Draconid people were a secret. Never talk to outsiders, never let yourself be seen leaving the village, and never, ever, show the village to an outsider. They lived in seclusion, to prevent people from finding them, and using their powers to control dragons for bad reasons. Even kids like her understood that.

But that didn't mean she liked it. This girl… she had been crying. She was scared and lost and didn't know how to get back home. If someone didn't help her…

No, she didn't even want to think about that.

And there was something else, as well. That Swablu… it was injured. In the village, that wouldn't be a problem. They could take care of the pokemon, easily.

"Hey… your name… is Aster, right?"

"Y-Yes?" Aster said, her face brightening. The tan girl was talking to her, which meant she hadn't gotten abandoned.

"I'll take that Swablu and heal it," she said. "You don't have to worry about her anymore."

"H-Huh?" Aster wasn't sure what she meant.

"I'm not allowed to talk to outsiders… but I can take care of pokemon. I can't tell you how, but I can. Don't worry."

"A-And… and th-then you'll show me the way b-back, right?" Aster asked hopefully.

Now for the lie.

"I won't," she said. "You aren't allowed to leave anymore."

"Wh-what?" Aster asked, her face going pale.

"Now that you've seen me, I can't let you go back. I'll take care of that Swablu, I'll take her back to the village. But I can't let you follow me. So I'll take you, too. I'm sorry, but I have to keep it secret. You can't tell people how to get back. So I can't let you, okay?"

Aster shook her head and began to shake. "Th-then…"

"It's okay." The voice was trying to soothe her, but Aster didn't feel soothed. "We won't hurt you. We'll treat you nice. But you won't be able to go outside anymore. I… we… it's a secret. And we can't trust you to keep it secret."

"B-But… th-that's not f-fair…" Aster whispered. If she did what the girl said… she'd never see anyone again? She'd have to stay in her village? She wouldn't miss her classmates… but Mrs. Stone? Her mother? She'd never see them again… she wouldn't be able to be an idol… she… "N-No! I-I wanna go h-home to momma…"

Of course she would choose that. Anyone would.

"Then go," the girl behind the rock harshly told her. She kicked her legs in the water to make it sound like she was coming out from behind the rock. "Run away before I take you back, outsider!"

Aster gasped, holding the Swablu tighter and stumbled back. She was about to run, but…

"B-But I don't know where to go…" she whispered.

"Too bad," rock girl snarled.

"Blu…" Swablu whimpered, her voice growing weaker. Aster gasped. She was worried that the pokemon might really be in bad shape, now. If she ran into the caves, not knowing where she was going… she'd get even more lost. And Swablu…

"F-Fine," Aster whimpered, trying not to cry. "I-I'll g-go with you… you c-can heal her, r-right? Please, y-you have to…"

A smile crept up the tan girl's lips and she came out from behind the rock.

"Okay. I'll take her." She walked to the edge of the spring and held her hands out. Aster looked at the girl, surprised. She really was tan! A-And she was naked… Aster blushed. Her mom always told her not to show other people her naked body.

"Y-You will?" Aster sighed in relief, the knowledge that Swablu would be okay momentarily clouding over the surprise of the naked girl and the worry that Aster would never see her family again.

"Yes," the tan girl nodded. "And then I'll come back to show you the way out."

Aster gasped, surprised.

"R-Really?" She asked, her eyes lighting up with hope. "B-But you s-said…"

"I lied," the girl plainly stated.

Aster's jaw dropped.

"B-But th-that's bad! Lying is bad!" Aster exclaimed.

The girl rolled her red eyes.

"I needed to make sure that you were a good person," she said. "You wanted me to take care of that Swablu, even though it meant that you would have to come back to my village. That was very nice of you. So if I make you promise not to tell anyone about me, I trust that you won't now. Because you're a nice person, Aster."

"B-But you could have j-just made me promise!" Aster protested. She had been really scared about never seeing her mom again! "That was mean!"

"…You really are sweet," the tan girl said, smiling. "I'm sorry for tricking you Aster. Now, um…"

She knelt down at the edge of the spring and reached down, Aster seeing a tunic nicely folded and nestled between the rocks for the first time. She gasped in surprise. The tan girl picked it up and pulled it on slowly. It was so… drab. Aster thought a cute girl like her should definitely wear something better than that.

"I'll take your Swablu, now," she said, stepping out of the spring and slipping on the sandals that were under the tunic. It was already starting to soak with water. "Please wait here. I'll come back soon, okay, Aster?"

Aster nodded obediently, handing the Swablu over to the girl. Then she realized something.

"Um… I'm Aster," Aster said shyly, thankfully not managing to stutter. "Wh-what's y-your name?" Darn, so much for that.

"…Oh!" The girl gasped. She smiled. "My name is Zinnia."

Aster's eyes widened. It was such a great name!

"We're both n-named after flowers!" Aster gasped. Cool!

Zinnia didn't really understand what was cool about it. She looked down at the little Swablu, and turned back to Aster. She had to go now.

"She's not that bad… but I need to bring her to my mom to treat her," Zinnia said. "Wait here, okay Aster? I'll be back as soon as I can. Oh! And close your eyes can count to 100, okay?"

"B-But I haven't learned all m-my numbers yet!" Aster protested. "I-I can count by fivesies, is that okay?"

Zinnia resisted the urge to laugh.

"Yeah, sure," she said, her resistance quickly crumbling as she snickered. Aster turned red, but she obediently held her hands over her eyes and began to count.

Zinnia's footsteps could be heard fading as Aster counted, but she didn't know where they were coming from.

"F-Forty-five… um, f-fivety, fivety-f-five… sixty…"

Zinnia still wasn't back by the time she got to 100, and didn't come back for a while after that, either. Aster didn't know how long she was waiting, but her stomach began to get rumbly and she wished that she hadn't forgotten her lunch box.

Lunch… lunch had to be over by now, right? And that meant Mrs. Stone would definitely know she was gone. Roxanne and Mari and the others would all get in trouble for letting Aster wander off on her own and get lost. That wasn't fair. It had been her fault, and yet they would probably get punished… they would all be mad at her for getting them in trouble, even nice Roxanne…

Aster thought about how nice Roxanne had been to her on the bus. She pictured Roxanne's kind smile turning into an angry scowl and she felt miserable. If she had just done the right thing, then…

Aster began to cry. She wasn't sure how long she was crying for, but she was shaken out of it by a soft hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay, Aster?"

"Z-Z-Zinnia!" Aster gasped. The girl had snuck up on her, and seen her crying. Aster didn't like people seeing her cry, she would always get all gross and snotty.

"Are you hurt, too?" Zinnia asked, her eyes glistening with worry.

"N-No, I'm j-just… s-sad," Aster said. "Wh-when I g-get b-back, every-o-one's g-gonna be… r-really mad at me for r-running aw-w-w-way…"

Zinnia blinked, surprised. She gave Aster a smile, and helped her to her feet.

"To tell you the truth?" Zinnia whispered, leaning in closely to Aster and looking around, a big, secretive smile wide on her face. "If my parents found out that I was helping you, Aster, they would get really mad at me too?"

"R-Really?" Aster asked. "Like… bedtime w-without TV mad?"

"…What's a tee-vee?" Zinnia asked, confused.

Aster's jaw dropped.

"You d-don't have a TV?" Aster asked.

"The only pokemon we have in our village are Dragon types," Zinnia explained, guessing that a "Tee-Vee" was some sort of pokemon.

Aster didn't know what to say to that.

"You need to tell me about this Tee-Vee while I show you the way out," Zinnia said, already excited. She never got to talk with outsiders. It was taboo, and that made this girl Aster the most interesting thing that had ever happened to her. Although she knew outsiders were bad, Zinnia was a curious girl at heart. She always wondered what was outside of Meteor Falls and her village, what the world beyond was like. But she had never seen it. Only the adults were allowed to go outside, and they so rarely did. But here was this girl, Aster, who knew all about the world beyond the veil of waterfalls! Zinnia had practically skipped back here she was so excited to learn more.

"Uh… s-sure," Aster said, nodding. She wasn't a big fan of talking, but she was okay with talking to Zinnia for some reason. Even though Zinnia was kind of bad for lying to her earlier, she seemed very nice, and she was helping Aster even though her family would get really mad at her if they found out. Aster wasn't that brave. Aster was too afraid to do anything that would make her mom mad at her, or even just making her disappointed.

It wasn't a long walk back to where she had left her group, and for once, she didn't feel the long drag of walking with people in awkward silence. Aster, for once in her life, was talking. And she was enjoying talking. She still stuttered on practically every word. But if Zinnia cared, it didn't show. The tan skinned girl was too blown away by everything that Aster was telling her about the world.

"Wait, so outside, people bathe in a tub? Like… you fill it with water? You don't use a spring? I assumed that everyone outside had their own spring and waterfall to bathe in, or at least a collective one like in the village!"

"…N-No, nobody has that…" Aster said, shaking her head.

Aster didn't like talking. Because her stutter would always make her look like a fool. But for once she didn't feel like she was saying something dumb. Zinnia was so enthusiastic and so happy to hear about all these things that Aster, for once, felt like she could have a real conversation.

It made her feel all floaty, like she had a friend.

"Um, s-so, Swab-blu, is-is she… d-did she go okay?" Aster asked.

"Yeah, she's resting up nice and fine in the village, don't worry," Zinnia assured her. "I told my mom that I was the one who found her, that she stumbled in while I was cleansing myself in the spring. She believed me, don't worry. So you're fine."

"O-Okay," Aster nodded. "W-Wait, wh-when you s-said you were cl-cleansing yours-self, d-does that… wh-what d-does that m-mean?"

Zinnia sighed.

"It's a ritual," she replied. "I'm cleansing myself to become the next Lorekeeper for my village. The Dragon Priestess who communes with… never mind. Basically, for seven days I must bathe in the waters of a holy spring, to cleanse myself of the filth of the physical world."

Aster had no idea what that meant, but obediently nodded anyway.

"Okay…"

"It's why they let me come back," Zinnia continued. "Because I'm supposed to continue with my purification until night."

Zinnia giggled.

"But this is more fun, talking to you, Aster!"

Aster was shocked. She had never had anyone tell her she was fun to talk to before. Most people just found her to be annoying or weird. Funny to talk to, maybe, considering how much they laughed at her stutter, but no one had enjoyed talking to her before.

"R-Really?" Aster asked hopefully. "Y-You th-think I'm f-fun to talk to?"

"Yeah! You know so much stuff!" Zinnia said, nodding. "I have so many questions!"

She sighed in disappointment as they continued to walk through the cave, running her hand along the wall.

"…Honestly, I wish I could talk more," she admitted. "I could do this all day."

Aster glanced at Zinnia. She didn't want to leave, either. She hadn't enjoyed speaking like this, being able to talk with someone…

Ever, really. She liked talking with her mom, but someone her age? This felt like she could actually talk, have fun with someone, even if it was a girl who lived in a mountain and didn't know what TV or bathtubs were.

But she still needed to go home.

"…This is the place you were talking about, right?" Zinnia said, stopping at the entrance to a massive cavern. Her voice sounded sad. Aster could understand why, she was a little sad to be leaving Zinnia too. She was also scared about confronting everyone. But she had to. She could hear the panicked voices of her classmates already, and Mrs. Stone was calling her name, "Aster!" echoing across the cave. She couldn't stay here.

But maybe she could come back?

"Z-Zinn-nia," Aster stuttered, Zinnia looking hopefully towards her.

"Yeah?" Zinnia asked.

"C-Can… if-f it's p-possible… could I m-maybe… come b-back?" Aster asked hopefully. "I-I don't have v-very m-many fr-fr-fr…"

Even as happy as she was talking to Zinnia, she still couldn't bring herself to spit the word "friend" out, she was afraid that would be too-

"Friends?" Zinnia asked, her eyes widening. "Are… are we friends?"

Aster swallowed.

"We… w-we can be?" Aster asked hopefully. "Fr-friends, I m-mean."

"I've never had an outsider for a friend," Zinnia admitted, looking shyly down at the stony floor of the cave. "I-I've never met an outsider before at all, actually. B-But… I want to talk more about the outside world with you, Aster… I mean, if you want? Maybe?"

Aster's heart skipped a beat. Someone not only thought she was fun to talk to, but they actually wanted to talk more with her? And not just because they were being nice, or because they had to, like Roxanne or Mrs. Stone, no, Zinnia actually wanted to talk to her! So much so she was happy for Aster to come, and even wanted to be her friend! Aster could have hugged her!

Aster did hug her.

"I r-really w-want to c-come back t-too," Aster said, pulling back away from her. "I w-want to talk to you, t-too, Zinnia! I really want to be your fr-friend!"

"I'll be going through the purification ritual for the next week, and I should be able to sneak out of it at any time, since I'm supposed to be alone," Zinnia giggled. "I'll come wait for you right here! Every day, so make sure you come, okay?"

Aster nodded.

"And you can't tell!" Zinnia reminded her. "Not about me, or my village. You have to keep it secret or my parents will get really mad!"

"I will," Aster said, nodding so hard her bangs flew up over her head. "Pinkie promise!"

Aster stuck out her pinky towards Zinnia, who looked at it with confusion.

"Um… huh?"

"P-Pinkie promise?" Aster repeated. Another thing that Zinnia didn't understand, it seemed. "S-See, you take your p-pinkie and wr-wrap it a-around mine, and w-we promise n-not to t-tell. A-And that way if I tell, y-you can st-stick a needle in my eye."

Zinnia gasped, her face twisting in horror. Outsiders stuck needles in people's eyes just for breaking a promise?! The outside world was scarier than she could have imagined. She wondered why the Draconid People had to be so secretive when outsiders were subjected to such painful-sounding things for breaking a promise.

"I-I don't want you to stick a needle in your eye!" Zinnia protested.

"Th-That's ok-kay, b-because I w-won't lie," Aster assured her, smiling. She shook her hand a little more insistently. Zinnia glanced at her pinkie, still not sure whether or not she should, and then decided that it was the best way to make sure Aster definitely wouldn't tell. She prayed that Aster wouldn't blab, so Aster wouldn't get a needle stuck in her eye and Zinnia's father wouldn't rip out the fingernails on her hand like the last person who had let the secret come out. That still sent a shiver down her spine, but compared to needles it seemed better.

They shook pinkies, and Aster smiled at her new friend, turned, and ran out into the large chamber. Zinnia watched her go, slipping back and heading for the spring. She needed to keep bathing, after all. She had thought that bathing and fasting every day for a week would be incredibly boring, but in fact, it was looking to be the most fun that Zinnia had ever had. Aster knew so much! She was so much fun to talk to, everything she said was just so amazing!

As Aster had expected, she got in trouble. A lot of trouble. And she couldn't tell why she had run off without telling them about Zinnia. So she said she had gotten lost looking for a wild pokemon, and had managed to find her way back.

She even lied and said she had snuck away while the other girls weren't looking, telling them that she was just going to the bathroom and would be back in a moment. She took on that humiliation because she didn't want the other girls to get in trouble. Roxanne smiled gratefully at her, Aster could tell from the girl's horrified face that she had gotten in major trouble with the teacher, which she clearly wasn't used to.

Needless to say, Aster wasn't allowed to catch a pokemon that day. Mrs. Stone made her sit on the bus until it was time to go home. She didn't mind. Roxanne didn't talk with her on the drive home, clearly miffed about Aster running away even though Aster HAD saved her reputation, and Aster didn't mind that, either. And when her mom came to pick her up from the Pokemon Trainer's School and drive her home, chewing her out for the phone call Mrs. Stone had given her, she didn't even mind that.

"Are you okay, Aster?" Her mom asked, her voice softening. Aster wasn't generally so happy to be chewed out. But Aster was just smiling. "Did something good happen during the field trip?"

Aster stared wistfully out the window at the range of mountains on the horizon, so far away and yet seeming so close.

"I made a n-new friend," she smiled.

Aww, a nice little bit of touching reunion. That's where we'll stop the flashback for now. There's more story to cover, but we don't need to cover it here. We'll revisit Zinnia and Aster later, think of this as just a tantalizing taste, getting to see how they met.