Kirlia Evolves

Night could conceal many things.

Sin, desire, conspiracies, and existences beyond common sense.

In the wilderness around an abandoned village, shadows gathered unnaturally, like flowing filthy liquid or huge black clumps. Anyone a little more timid would easily be scared into screaming.

Yet Akesato, the boy standing within them, felt no discomfort at all. Instead, he wore an excited smile, his red tongue sweeping across the corner of his mouth. No matter how one looked at that expression—it was downright perverted!

The shadows seemed angered by Akesato, surging and churning as though they wanted to spray him right in the face.

However, just before the shadows erupted, a white light suddenly lit up in the darkness.

Pure and clean, it stood in sharp contrast to the surrounding filth.

Where the white light passed, the filth retreated, opening up a patch of pure land around the boy.

Akesato looked toward the source of the light, his expression instantly softening. "Thank you, Kirlia."

"Kirli~"

Following the crisp reply, a peculiar girl emerged from the light.

She wore a white dancer's dress, her limbs slender beyond what any human could match.

Her beautiful emerald-green hair was adorned with red spikes arranged like hair ornaments, and her eyes were red as well, radiating a charm unlike any human's.

Kirlia stepped lightly in a dance around Akesato. Though she made no sound, he could clearly understand what she wanted to say.

The moment Kirlia floated to his right, he skillfully reached out and rubbed her head.

"No need to hold back. It's already useless. Sorry for suppressing you for so long. This time, let it all out."

"Kirli~"

Kirlia nodded gently, her seemingly weightless body rising higher and higher.

At the same time, the space around the white light began to twist, rippling with irregular yet even more dazzling iridescence.

Unlike the earlier expulsion, this iridescence was far more domineering. The shadows lurking in the dark had no time to retreat before they were swept into it and shredded into dust-like particles.

An evening breeze passed by, scattering the dust with the wind until no trace remained.

"Good work, Kirlia."

Akesato opened his arms toward the peculiar girl descending slowly. She leaped lightly into the boy's embrace, her cries of "Kirli, Kirli" carrying a touch more coquettishness.

Akesato first lifted the girl high, then pressed his forehead against hers. His clear black-and-white eyes stared unblinkingly at this wondrous being who had always remained by his side as he spoke softly.

"This is the last time I'll call you that. The next time I call your name, it'll be a different one."

With that, the boy closed his eyes. In the familiar darkness, a status panel appeared before him, and the number that had remained at 29 for so long jumped upward to 30.

"Level thirty. Finally. Come on, I can't wait to see the new you."

"Kirli!"

Like an elegant ballet dancer, Kirlia spun out of Akesato's arms, lifted her skirt with both hands, and performed a curtsy.

The next instant, pure white light enveloped her petite body once more.

When the white light dispersed, the girl was no longer a girl.

Her original height of eighty centimeters had grown to one hundred sixty centimeters, and her limbs had become even more slender.

The color scheme of her hair, skirt, and ornaments remained unchanged, but the overall arrangement had become more mature.

If Kirlia had been an underage girl, then she was now an adult noble lady.

The young lady maintained her noble greeting posture, greeting him in a more mature voice and pronunciation.

"Gardevoir~"

Akesato's posture did not change, but he could not hide the excitement on his face.

Eight years. A full eight years. He had finally waited for this.

Always near the top of Pokémon popularity rankings, first place on the Pokémon wife rankings, first place in doujin numbers, and a member of the "Humans Can't, or at Least Shouldn't" series.

Beautiful, obedient, powerful... she had single-handedly filled the gap between Pokémon and Digimon.

Before he realized it, the curve of his lips was getting a little out of control again.

Fortunately, he caught sight of Gardevoir's puzzled sideways glance and her half-step backward, forcing himself to rein it in.

Whether it was Gardevoir, Kirlia, or even Ralts, Kirlia's previous form, they all possessed an extraordinary sensitivity to emotions. They liked sunny, positive feelings and disliked negative, gloomy ones.

Akesato did not want some of his unconscious thoughts to affect Gardevoir.

"Congratulations, Gardevoir."

"Gardevoir~"

Those words seemed to flip some strange switch, and Gardevoir pounced on him with practiced ease.

But now that she possessed an adult's height, she no longer needed Akesato to lift her up to meet his gaze. She only had to rise slightly onto her toes for their foreheads to touch.

And that was not the end. After expressing affection for a while, Gardevoir exerted strength with both hands and actually lifted Akesato into the air.

"Hey, hey, I'm not really used to this."

At first, Akesato wanted to refuse, but when he caught sight of Gardevoir's delighted expression, he let her do as she pleased.

"As long as you're happy. You used to sit on my shoulders. Later, I carried you in my arms or on my back. Now it's your turn to lift me. That's nice too."

Hearing Akesato say that made Gardevoir even happier, and she tried everything Akesato had once done for her in reverse.

Sitting on shoulders, from her days as a child Ralts.

Being lifted high, carried princess-style, and carried on a back, from her days as a girl Kirlia.

Although Akesato was already sixteen this year and had long since passed one hundred seventy centimeters in height, Gardevoir performed every action without the slightest awkwardness.

That was because Gardevoir had another nickname: the Psychic Queen. With her Psychic Power, she could casually twist and crush enemies with telekinesis alone. Lifting a person was effortless.

At the end of their play, Gardevoir kept both herself and Akesato floating in the air and asked softly, "Gardevoir?"

"Sure, let's go home."

Akesato gave a big stretch. Though his posture was lazy, Gardevoir, who had lived with him for eight years, could sense the soaring spirit beneath that laziness.

She had only seen this side of Akesato twice.

The first time was when she had just been born. He had jumped and danced around, shouting, "After being unlucky for so long, I finally got lucky!" and "Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir are the best!"

The other time was now. Though he did not say it aloud, it said everything.

Although she did not really understand why her master was so happy, Gardevoir did not mind.

If her master was happy, then she was happy. She was the most loyal Pokémon.

With a gentle motion of both hands, the boy and girl headed home together under the effect of telekinesis.

In the past, Akesato had brought her home when she was still small. Now that she had grown up, she could do many things she had once been unable to do.

Their home was nothing remarkable—a perfectly ordinary single-story house, with a pebble path in front and some flowers planted on either side.

They were not particularly precious flowers, but they had been carefully tended, lending their unremarkable little home a unique charm.

Since they had flown back, Akesato and Gardevoir did not use the front door. They floated directly into their own room.

With Gardevoir's Psychic Power, even if the window had been locked from the inside, opening it was not difficult at all, and it would not leave behind any trace.

Once his feet returned to the ground, Akesato poked Gardevoir's forehead. "It's late. Get some sleep first. Tomorrow, we'll find a chance to come clean to Mother."

Before his words had even faded, the door across from the window was pushed open, accompanied by a voice:

"No need. Whatever you want to say, you can say it now."