Jujutsu Kaisen: I Have A Gardevoir

With his hand on the hilt of his sword, Akira was in the highest state of alert.

Not even when facing his estranged mother's ambush, or earlier at the Kyoto Goodwill Event, had Akira shown any intention of drawing his sword.

There was no need. With his body enhanced by Pokémon, Akira could handle nearly anyone in Japan, unless he faced someone like Satoru Gojo or Yuta Okkotsu—those overpowered exceptions.

This time, though he had not yet seen the person, Akira still made a similar judgment.

There were two reasons for this.

First, up until now, Akira hadn't sensed the presence of the infiltrator at all.

Not only he, but Darkrai and Pangoro hadn't detected anything either.

Even though they weren't as sharp as Gardevoir, with their levels of strength, Akira's mother's shadow guards had been detected and defeated entirely.

Mai's sneaky following, and even his father's secret surveillance, hadn't escaped Akira's notice. It showed that the enemy's abilities in concealment were, at the very least, of the highest level in the world.

So, the question was:

Why wasn't he able to detect them, but still felt their presence? This led to the second reason.

"—Detected Trainer Mimicry, processing Mimicry Collection, new Trainer Template obtained: Lance."

The moment Mai retracted the curtain, Akira received a prompt from the system.

Checking the template's details at the fastest speed, Akira's caution skyrocketed.

The template he had obtained was Lance from the Pokémon Special series.

The Pokémon games, anime, and manga shared the same basic world concept, but the storylines and character settings varied greatly—sometimes to the extent that they couldn't be considered the same timeline or even related branches.

Lance was one such character.

In the games and anime, he was the regional champion, with a limited role—a high-level supporting character.

But in the Pokémon Special manga, he was the ultimate boss of the "Yellow" arc, intending to summon the legendary Pokémon Lugia to destroy humanity.

Though with the expansion of the world concept, Lugia destroying humanity later turned into something of a joke, Lance's pressure and presence at the time were at their peak, and they never diminished in later appearances.

Besides his boss-like aura, there was another reason that made Akira very concerned: Lance's motive for becoming the ultimate villain—witnessing humans polluting the environment during his childhood, causing Pokémon to become homeless and hungry. To create a world fit for Pokémon, humans had to be eradicated.

In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, there was only one person who could activate this mimicry.

"Have I been discovered? I thought I was hiding pretty well."

A magnetic male voice came from above, as the previously dissipated "curses" suddenly intensified.

A large purple-black snake, over two meters in diameter, slowly appeared in the air, with a young man sitting on its head.

He looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.

His long hair was well-groomed and hung over his shoulders, and his features, while gentle and correct at first glance, revealed an underlying danger when looked at closely.

With his monk's robe, he resembled a legendary rogue monk.

He waved at Akira.

"Good evening, Akira. My name is Suguru Geto."

"Su... Suguru Geto!" Mai gasped in shock, her voice trembling slightly.

This man was one of the four special grade sorcerers recognized by the Jujutsu Alliance and the only one to defect to become a curse user.

Having such an individual appear before her, how could she not be afraid? Instinctively, she moved closer behind Akira, seeking a sense of safety.

Akira's reaction, however, was much calmer—he merely muttered to himself, "I knew it."

In this world, only one person fit Lance's character template perfectly.

The same extremism, the same power, even the methods and ideologies were very similar—they could be considered the most dangerous terrorists in their respective worlds.

Squinting his eyes, Akira said expressionlessly, "Do you need something from me?"

"Don't be so cold. After all, I am technically your senior," Suguru Geto said with a smile, leaping down from the curse serpent's head and walking over.

However, Akira didn't lower his guard; instead, he pushed his sword out a fraction more: "If you have something to say, then say it. Don't tell me you're just passing by."

Seeing this, Suguru Geto stopped. "I actually was just passing by, but then I received information about the Goodwill Event—a boy surpassing a grade one sorcerer, possessing a 'Spirit Manipulation' technique similar to 'Curse Manipulation.' As the owner of 'Curse Manipulation,' I was naturally curious."

A reasonable explanation, yet the underlying information wasn't simple.

Akira's presence in Kyoto wasn't publicized, and he always kept a low profile in his movements. In theory, if Geto wanted to find him, he should have gone to Tokyo, not Kyoto.

Being able to locate Akira so quickly in Kyoto could only mean one thing—he had contacts within the Jujutsu Alliance, and high-level ones at that.

It wasn't particularly surprising either.

Collusion between the high ranks and curse users wasn't new.

Geto's goal wasn't the Jujutsu Alliance, and they had a foundation for cooperation.

The key question was, was Geto himself interested in him? Or was he asked by someone to test him out? While pondering, Suguru Geto's gaze shifted to Swablu perched on Mai's head: "So, this must be a 'Spirit,' huh? Though it doesn't match my understanding of spirits, I can feel the essence of a 'Spirit' in it. I wonder if my 'Curse Manipulation' could control it—"

Clang! Akira drew his sword, and as cursed energy flowed, "sword aura" was ready to erupt.

"Relax, relax." Geto spread his hands to show that he had no ill intentions. "I'm just curious. You should know that 'Curse Manipulation' can only absorb and control ownerless curses."

Akira, of course, knew this, but he wasn't sure if controlling Pokémon without using jujutsu, and without Poké Balls, would count as being "owned" or not.

There was a similar case in the Pokémon Special manga, where the protagonist of the "Emerald" arc, Emerald, was loved by Pokémon but hadn't captured any of them.

If Geto could really control them, Akira would go mad.

Fortunately, it failed the test. Geto had just used cursed energy, but he was unable to establish a connection with Swablu.

Akira was only worried about Swablu. The rest of his Pokémon weren't a concern, as the ability of "Curse Manipulation" had limitations—it could only directly control curses that were two major levels below Geto. If the gap wasn't that large, they had to be weakened first before being controlled.

Does this feel familiar?

The process of Geto collecting curses looked even more familiar, directly compressing a curse into a sphere, and releasing them as if using "Curse Balls."

Indeed, one of Geto's nicknames was "Pokémon Master," and "Curse Manipulation" itself was the greatest tribute to Pokémon.

Geto's next move was also fitting with this theme: "I'm very interested in the existence of these 'Spirits.' How about this—we do an exchange. I'll give you one of my curses, and you give me one of your spirits. How about it?"