Darkness and Light, Into the Chaos!

Paul was walking around the castle grounds, trying to think of something to do. He had already pushed his Pokémon to their limits and they needed a little rest, he had been to Dungeon Island recently, he had read most of the interesting books in the library. Truth be told, he was bored.

"H-Hi Paul." came the small voice. Paul turned to see Cera shuffling up to him shyly. Ah yes, his little friend. She had come with the rest of the rescues, just like he had thought, but instead of staying on Dungeon Island or going to Resort or Vault Island, she had insisted on staying with Paul despite not wanting to be caught. She was usually practicing her abilities, though Paul wasn't sure why considering she was already powerful for still being in her first evolutionary stage.

"Hey Cera. How's it been?" he asked, crouching to see the little Pokémon easier. What? She was so tiny! It would be easy to lose her in the tall grass, easier to lose her among Clemont's workshop clutter (not that she went there very often, Clemon't Luxray making her uneasy).

"I've been okay. I've managed to get a handle on my powers now." she replied. Why was she drawn to this human? Sure, he had saved her and had kept his word not to catch her unless she wanted to, but then she should feel just as comfortable around Ash or Andre... well maybe not Andre, the guy was scary.

"Cera? Earth to Cera." Paul was calling. "You okay? You zoned out a bit." he asked.

Cera blushed at the human's concern but shook her head. "I'm alright, just thinking." sensing his next question, she added, "About before."

Cera began shaking and Paul scooped her up, holding her close. He did that a lot. Any time she began thinking of the past she got a panic attack, and every time Paul would be there to comfort her. She could feel the rage coming off of him, but she was pretty sure it wasn't directed at her. She was right. Paul's anger was directed at the ones who had left such emotional scars on such an innocent creature. Paul shook his head slightly. Where had that come from? Paul looked at Cera, who was still shaking and he began to whisper, "It's alright. You never have to go back there. You're safe." After a few minutes, Cera calmed down and lifted her head. "You okay now?"

She nodded and Paul began to set her down. "Wait!" she said suddenly. Paul stopped and returned to his earlier position. "C-can I just stay on your shoulder for a while? I'm still not completely calm."

Even now Paul didn't really like physical contact, avoiding Ash's fist bumps and "bro hugs" with expert precision and Bonnie's hugs with slightly less success (that girl must have sugar instead of blood with how hyper she was), but for a reason he couldn't understand, he helped Cera balance on his right shoulder. "Hold tight now, don't need you falling." he commanded.

Cera took a few moments, but once she was secure she smiled. "Thank you, Paul." she whispered quietly. Suddenly, an idea struck her. "Hey, you seemed bored when I came up to you, care to listen to an idea?"

"What?" Paul asked, hoping the ralts had a way to alleviate his boredom.

"That room you said had all the stories, do you think you could read me one?" Cera asked with a blush.

Paul thought it over. He hadn't really read to anyone before. It could be interesting. Shrugging, Paul began to walk toward the library.

..One week later..

"The end." Paul finished, snapping the book closed. Cera sighed as he placed the book on the pile. "So, what did you think?" he asked.

"It was great. I defnintely liked that the Gallade confessed to his crush." Cera replied. Paul only shrugged. The story was okay, but romances weren't really his thing. He preferred the more intellectual stories where the protagonist solved the problem through strategy and skill. "Hey, you're headed to Dungeon Island now, right?" the ralts asked.

"That's right." Paul replied. He had been planning to take Electivire into the Deep Canyon since he heard form Andre that there was something there he would be interested in. Even if the hybrid was just sending him on a wild goose chase, it was good training for his ace. "Why? You wanna come?"

"I-if you don't mind." was Cera's timid reply. Paul stood, placing his little companion in her usual spot on his shoulder as he grunted out an okay.

He went to grab Electivire, who had decided to spar with Infernape while he waited for his trainer, when the purplette saw one of the more tolerable members of Ash's group coming toward him. "Hey Paul, off to Deep Canyon?" Brock asked.

"Yeah. Even if this is some wild goose chase it'll be good practice for later." Paul replied, absently glancing at Cera. As he expected, she was trying to hide by keeping her grip on his coat and slipping behind his back.

"I see Cera is still afraid of pretty much everyone but you." Brock noted, worry laced in his voice.

"Can you blame her? After what she went through, it's really not that much of a surprise." Paul retorted. Brock flinched at the stoic trainer's icy tone. Paul left with Cera before he could offer any response, though.

..Deep Canyon..

"Thunder Punch!" Paul ordered, his loyal Pokémon using the electrically charged attack to knock a nitorino away. "Nice job, how you feeling?"

"Tired, but I'm still good for a few rounds." the electric type replied, pumping his fist. Paul smirked as the trio continued. Electivire took the lapse in aggressive Pokémon to study their little tag-along. The ralts, Cera if he remembered right, was the Pokémon who had stuck to Paul's side instead of living here on Dungeon Island. And recently Paul had been leaving his Pokémon to their own devices to spend time reading to the little Pokémon. Not that he was complaining, it felt nice to be able to take it easy once in a while, but it was out of character for his trainer to leave them to train themselves even now that he'd become more mindful of his Pokémon's condition during training.

It only took a little longer for them to reach what Paul assumed to be their destination. The center of the canyon was mostly a clearing with the exception of a rock on a pedestal. Paul looked said rock over before turning to his Pokémon. "Any idea what this is? I'm drawing a blank."

"I-it's gardevoirite." Cera gasped. "It's the mega stone you need to Mega Evolve gardevoir."

"But I don't have a gardevoir. Why would Andre send me to find this when-" Paul ranted before noticing the anxiety of his passenger.

"W-well a ralts can use it if they evolve the right way. If you want to use it, I could become your Pokémon." Cera offered. Plus if I evolve maybe I'll be cured of that. she added mentally.

"Cera, did you know this would be here?" Paul asked suspiciously. Cera nodded meekly. The trainer could only sigh. "Alright, I'm gonna let you down so I can do this properly." he said mildly, lifting the ralts off his shoulder and setting her on the ground before digging in his pack for that pokeball Brock had said would be perfect if he ever caught Cera. Finding the Friend Ball, he tapped her head with it and the ball flashed for a few seconds before dinging, signaling the capture a success. Paul smiled slightly as he let Cera back out of the Friend Ball. "I guess this is the part where I say welcome to the team." he chuckled, placing Cera back on his shoulder before placing the mega stone into his pack and heading out with his Pokémon.

And done! Well, that was the second in this five-chapter fic, but it's late and I need to go to bed, so no more chapters tonight. Sorry and see you soon!