Kirlia

Kirlia in the games: Ralts' second stage, and a fork in the road

Kirlia is the middle stage of the Ralts line, introduced in Generation III with Ruby and Sapphire. It was a pure Psychic type until Generation VI added Fairy to the whole line. It evolves from Ralts at level 20 and becomes Gardevoir at level 30, but a male Kirlia given a Dawn Stone becomes Gallade, a Psychic and Fighting type, so the same Pokémon can finish in two very different places depending on how it is raised.

Its standard abilities are Synchronize, which passes a burn, paralysis or poison back to the Pokémon that inflicted it, and Trace, which copies the opponent's ability when Kirlia enters battle. Its hidden ability, Telepathy, protects it from an ally's attacks in double battles.

Kirlia on cards: from Ruby & Sapphire to Delta Species and beyond

Kirlia's first cards came in the 2003 Ruby & Sapphire expansion, which printed two versions: #34 by Ken Sugimori and #35 by Atsuko Nishida. Our catalog lists 32 Kirlia printings across 27 sets, with the EX era carrying the most (nine), and most of them are Uncommon Stage 1 cards meant to bridge Ralts and Gardevoir in play.

The EX era also produced its one off-type card: Dragon Frontiers (2006) printed a Kirlia δ as a Fire type, a Delta Species treatment, next to a standard Psychic Kirlia in the same set.

Kirlia's special printings

Legendary Treasures (2013) added a Kirlia to its Radiant Collection subset, illustrated by Kagemaru Himeno. It has since been a shiny rare twice, in Hidden Fates' Shiny Vault (2019) and in Paldean Fates (2024), and the base Scarlet & Violet set (2023) gave it an illustration rare drawn by Jiro Sasumo. Those few cards are where collector attention on Kirlia concentrates; the rest of its run is playable evolution stock that sits in the shadow of Gardevoir and Gallade.

Cards to know

• Kirlia (Ruby & Sapphire #34)

  One of Kirlia's two debut cards from the 2003 Ruby & Sapphire expansion, illustrated by Ken Sugimori.

• Kirlia (Legendary Treasures #RC9)

  A 2013 Radiant Collection printing illustrated by Kagemaru Himeno.

• Kirlia (Hidden Fates Shiny Vault #SV35)

  Kirlia in its shiny coloring, from the 2019 Hidden Fates Shiny Vault.

• Kirlia (Scarlet & Violet #212)

  An illustration rare by Jiro Sasumo from the 2023 base Scarlet & Violet set.

• Kirlia (Paldean Fates #154)

  Kirlia's second shiny rare, printed in Paldean Fates (2024).