Digivolution

Digivolution (進化 Shinka?, lit. "Evolution") is a term used in the Digimon series. It is a process used by Digimon, monsters that inhabit a parallel universe called the Digital World that spawned from Earth's telecommunications network. Through Digivolution, a Digimon can develop into a more powerful being.

Concept
Digimon reside in the Earth's various electronic networks as well as in the Digital World. As they are essentially computer data they can download additional data to themselves, which makes them stronger. If they download enough data, Digivolution is triggered. During Digivolution the Digimon's appearance and attributes change, and it becomes significantly stronger than it was before. The resultant form of the Digimon almost always has a different name than the previous. However, the Digimon's consciousness remains unchanged. If a Digimon does not absorb enough data needed to maintain the form, it will not be able to retain that form for long and revert to a lower level in a matter of time.

Digivolution is divided into multiple levels, made up of an egg-form Digi-Egg (デジタマ Digitama?) and six main evolutionary steps. Levels are not mentioned in Digimon Fusion and its related media, and most of the Digimon created for the series are specified as having no level in the Digimon Dictionary.

Main Digivolutionary Stages (English adaptation terms with Japanese terms in brackets):

*Fresh         "Baby I")    *In-Training    "Baby II") *Rookie        "Child")    *Champion       "Adult") *Ultimate      "Perfect")    *Mega           "Ultimate")

If left to its own devices, Digimon will naturally age and, over time, may digivolve to higher levels using data from the environment. Digivolving from the initial Fresh stage usually progresses, but each subsequent level takes progressively more time. Because of this, only a sparse number of Digimon naturally reach their final forms. Anger and/or the necessity to survive in a great battle can often spur digivolution. When Digimon are deleted, they either regress completely into DigiEggs or break apart into innumerable bits of errant data that can be easily acquisitioned or "loaded" by other Digimon