The Pokémon journey begins in Galar

After retrieving her Pokémon, Yuri had already gone ahead to the preparation area. Her match would begin shortly.

Meanwhile, Marie was in no rush. She stayed in the lobby and released Chuu by himself with a flick of her hand.

"Caw\\~ (Hehehe\\~ Did you need something\\~?)"

Hearing Chuu's overly sweet tone, Marie couldn't help but smile. She sat back down with a thump and tilted her head, watching the newly evolved bird land and stand beside her.

"It's not that I need something. Isn't there something *you* should be explaining to *me*?"

She reached out and stroked the feathers around Chuu's neck. Compared to before his evolution, they felt a bit tougher not as soft as she remembered, but still not as stiff as she had feared.

Chuu had grown significantly in size and weight since evolving. He was far too big now to snuggle into her arms the way he used to.

"Caw\\... (Alright...)

Looking a little deflated, Chuu fidgeted awkwardly before settling down and resting his head on Marie's thigh. His sharp claws tucked in tightly, almost like he was afraid to touch anything.

His beak and talons had grown longer and sharper. For a Pokémon who used to love curling up in Marie's lap, that change brought him no joy.

Marie ran her hand down from his neck to his belly. At least the feathers on his stomach were still soft as always.

"Suppressing your urge to evolve must have been hard, huh?"

Breaking the silence, Marie took the lead. Chuu's earlier tone had hinted at something deeper guilt, maybe, even if he hadn't realized it himself.

"Caw\\... (It was alright... hehe...)"

"Really? You don't have to pretend to be tough."

She curiously ruffled his newly grown wings. The feathers there had a metallic sheen, giving off an unmistakable sense of power.

"Caw—(Okay, fine, it sucked. I'm sorry.)"

With his power growing, Chuu's evolutionary instincts had become harder and harder to suppress. Without something like an Everstone to hold it back, most Pokémon couldn't resist the call for long. It was like going against nature itself.

Chuu had hidden it so well that no one noticed. Marie could only imagine how much effort he had put in to keep it to himself.

"Well, I wasn't planning to scold you or anything. But I'd like to know why didn't you want to evolve? And what changed your mind mid-battle?"

"Caw\\... (Just... don't get mad, okay?)"

Chuu glanced up at Marie's expression. Even with his new fierce-looking eyes, he still looked just as silly and charming as ever.

"Go on, spit it out\\~"

Marie patted his belly gently, prompting him to shyly turn his head away, avoiding her gaze.

"Caw caw\\... (After evolving... you wouldn't be able to hold me anymore...)

"Pfft..."

Marie had already suspected as much from his behavior, but hearing it out loud still made her laugh. She tousled his feathers with a grin and asked:

"So? What made you suddenly decide to evolve after all?"

"Caw! (I didn't want to lose!)"

"I see. You did well."

Marie leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. He was heavy, though...

"..."

Chuu hadn't expected to be hugged and just froze, beak half open in shock. Marie's cheek pressed against his feathers, and the warmth stunned him into silence.

By the time she let go, he still hadn't recovered.

Marie gave one of his wings a tug and gently shut his open beak.

"Wake up."

"Caw\\~ (Can I get one more hug?)"

Marie narrowed her eyes and pinched his cheek. It wasn't as easy to squish as before.

"Don't suppress your evolution next time. If you *really* don't want to evolve, I'll get you an Everstone. But no more keeping it all to yourself. Got it?"

"Caw caw! (Yes yes yes! Understood!)"

"Sigh..."

According to the research papers, once Chuu learns Drill Peck, he'd pretty much meet the conditions for his final evolution. Since he only just evolved into a Corvisquire, that second stage might be delayed a bit.

But probably not by much. Once he could properly control Brave Bird, it would come naturally.

Still, Marie decided not to bring that up now. Chuu clearly hadn't fully come to terms with his current form. Telling him he was going to get even bigger soon would probably send him into a spiral.

After all, Corviknight's average height was 2.2 meters. Judging by Chuu's current size, he'd likely end up even larger than most.

That meant Marie would soon have two massive Pokémon on her team.

Finding hotels with rooms big enough for all of them was going to be a challenge.

If Chuu had truly been the kind of Pokémon who hated evolving, Marie would've given him an Everstone ages ago. But he had never shown any resistance to it before. He trained hard every day.

And now, he had willingly evolved just to win a battle.

Even so, Marie decided she would still go find an Everstone. If Chuu genuinely didn't want to evolve again, then she'd give it to him.

Letting go of the now docile Chuu, Marie pulled out his Luxury Ball.

"Alright. Let's go watch Yuri's match. You go back in for now."

"Caw\\~ (Can I just follow outside?)"

"Hmm..."

Marie eyed him from top to bottom. With his wings now stretching over a meter wide, he was far from compact. It'd be fine outdoors, but they'd need to walk through tight indoor corridors.

"You probably won't even be able to spread your wings in there. I'll let you back out once we're in the audience area."

"Caw\\... (Okay...)

Chuu wasn't the stubborn type. After giving Marie's chest a nuzzle, he obediently returned to his Poké Ball.

Marie straightened out her rumpled clothes, deciding against calling him out just to scold him again. She picked up Mo, waved at the silent Sirfetch'd beside her, and said,

"Let's go, Sirfetch'd. If you get bored, you can go rest with Nurse Joy for a bit."

She pointed toward the nurse stationed at the gym. Life here wasn't easy either. Many of the gym trainers had their own schedules and routines.

Nurse Joy had to care not only for the Gym Leader and challengers' Pokémon, but also those of the supporting staff.

"Caw\\~ (No need. I'll come with you.)"

Sirfetch'd shook his head. Even if he didn't think much of Yuri's skills, after spending time together, he was at least curious enough to see how she battled.

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