Chapter 150: The Mature Meowscarada
Floragato evolved. It happened this morning. She awoke, startled, not even knowing when it had happened. Last night, she had a dream where her strength surpassed Ryu's. She had knocked him down, climbed on top of him, and laughed heartily while pulling his tail. The excitement in the dream must have prompted her evolution.
"Meow," she said, getting up and glancing at the still-sleeping Ryu. She carefully walked to a nearby river to look at her reflection.
A new face appeared before her eyes. The fur on her cheeks had become a bit pink. Beautiful, she thought. She felt she was the most beautiful Pokémon in the world. And more importantly, she finally felt like an adult. Standing next to Ryu from now on, she probably wouldn't be treated like a child anymore.
She was now... a Meowscarada.
She stood up straight, feeling so much taller. She slowly approached Ryu and lay down next to him. Still a big difference. She suddenly felt a bit depressed. Why was he still so much bigger? The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, and she reached out and slapped the sleeping Sceptile.
"Huh?" Ryu smacked his lips and groggily opened his eyes to see a large, elegant cat next to him. He immediately sat up, cupped her face in his hands, and stared intently.
"...Meow meow meow!" The intense staring made her feel embarrassed, and she covered her face with her paws, trying to hide her smug smile.
"Holy moly," Ryu said, now wide awake. "They say females change dramatically when they grow up, and it's no exaggeration." Even with his face blindness, he could tell that his cat's looks were top-notch.
"Meow," she said, hearing his praise and shyly touching her ear.
"Hmm... her personality has become much more open," he thought. The former Floragato would have hidden her happiness, but the new Meowscarada accepted the praise, even if she was a little shy.
"But I think you were cutest when you were little," he sighed with a hint of regret. "Tiny ears and tail, a straightforward personality, and you cried easily. Absolutely adorable."
"Meow!" she huffed, turning her head away.
"Oh~ you're so tall now. You're a mature Meowscarada," he said. Her current height of 1.8 meters was at the ceiling for her species in this era.
"Meow?"
"It means you're an adult," he said, gently stroking her head.
She didn't resist. She had always wanted to become an adult to narrow the gap between them. But now, she realized that no matter how big she grew, in his eyes, she would always be a child. And... that feeling was quite nice. It was her special privilege.
"Speaking of which, this thing on your face..." he said, gently poking the 'mask' over her eyes. It was hard, like the hardened fur she had as a Floragato.
"Meow?" she said, raising a paw and pulling the mask off, revealing her face underneath.
Ryu was so scared he fell backward. It wasn't that her face was scary; it was that in his "past life" knowledge, Meowscarada's mask was part of the fur on its face. To remove it should have been equivalent to tearing her own face off.
"Meow?" Seeing his terrified reaction, her mood suddenly dropped, and tears appeared in her eyes. She thought he found her face horribly ugly.
"Don't misunderstand," he quickly got up and explained. "Your face is very cute. I just thought the mask was your fur and couldn't be removed. I thought you had torn it off, so I was scared."
"Meow?" she looked at him with a wronged expression.
"Really, I'm not lying to you," he said, rubbing the long, thick fur on her head.
Hearing that, she finally nodded with relief. "You've grown up, so why do you still cry so easily?" he smiled, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Meow," she turned her head gently. She only cried so easily because his reaction had hurt her feelings.
"Alright, pack up and say goodbye to your friends. We should be leaving."
"Meow," she nodded. It was time to go out and travel with Ryu. Besides, she had long been dissatisfied with that ancient female Dragonite who was always getting close to him.
[Inorin Note:
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