Jujutsu Kaisen: I Have A Gardevoir

As Darkrai devoured the cursed spirits, the purpose Akira had painstakingly concealed finally surfaced.

One word: consume.

Consume cursed spirits, gain experience, do whatever it takes to raise Darkrai's level.

Since he was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, he would make up for it with quality.

Darkrai is a late-blooming Pokémon. If he could level Darkrai up, none of the problems would be problems anymore.

Level 66 skill: Dark Void, the ultimate sleep move. With Darkrai's stats, it's almost guaranteed to hit.

Level 84 skill: Dream Eater, allows the user to recover HP by devouring the dreams of sleeping enemies. When combined with Dark Void or Hypnosis, it's practically a semi-perpetual motion machine.

Level 93 skill: Dark Pulse, Darkrai's strongest attack and his most powerful crowd-control move.

If Darkrai could reach this level, forget one-versus-six—even one-versus-six hundred or six thousand wouldn't be impossible.

This was the complete form of the "God of Nightmares."

However, anyone who has played level-up games knows the higher you go, the harder it gets to level up.

Reality wasn't like a game—there were no infinitely respawning wild monsters. Even though cursed spirits were renewable, they took time, and their spawn points were mostly random.

With normal leveling speed, even if Akira kept training until next year when the main story began, Darkrai might still not reach his full potential.

Until Suguru Geto appeared.

If nothing else, Suguru Geto had plenty of cursed spirits.

Whether he was studying at Jujutsu High or later working as a Cursed User, he diligently collected cursed spirits, even more diligently than sorcerers on the job.

Akira suspected that the Jujutsu Alliance turned a blind eye to his activities not only because they feared his Special Grade strength but also for this reason.

After all, sorcerers were in short supply—wasn't it great if someone wanted to do their dirty work for them?

Even if Geto did cause some incidents, there was always Satoru Gojo to clean up, and they could easily blame him afterward.

After all, they were classmates, and when Suguru Geto defected, Gojo had a chance to capture or kill him. That's a "black mark" that Gojo can never shake off.

Of course, none of this had anything to do with Akira. He was just targeting the vast number of cursed spirits under Geto's control, hoping to use this opportunity to forge a real ace Pokémon.

So he deliberately appeared weak from the start, step by step luring Geto into increasing his attack intensity, constantly "adding fuel."

The more Geto added, the longer Akira could drag things out, which would benefit Darkrai.

What does it mean to have a breakthrough during a battle?

What does it mean to level up in the middle of fighting?

This is it!

And it makes perfect sense, without any cheats or unfair advantages.

This is just how Pokémon work.

Bad Dreams, Double Team, Haze... As Darkrai leveled up, each skill embedded in his DNA gradually unlocked. Next would be the most crucial, and Darkrai's ultimate skill—Dark Void.

Once he learned that, even if he couldn't yet learn the higher-level skills, Akira would be at least somewhat invincible.

Akira had calculated well, but Suguru Geto wasn't dumb either. He noticed the clues at the critical moment and turned the tables on Akira, forcing him to take a big risk.

After breaking the Grade 1 cursed spirit encirclement, Darkrai reached level 58—still 8 levels away from the target level 66.

After completely devouring the four Grade 1 cursed spirits, Darkrai reached level 62—just 4 levels to go.

If Geto hadn't noticed and released another wave, Akira would have won his gamble.

Unfortunately, there was no "if." Akira couldn't pull any more tricks and had to face things head-on for the final four levels.

"Go, Darkrai, show them your true power!"

"Uhh!"

Sensing Akira's determination, Darkrai no longer held back his strength, nor did he hide in the shadows—he unleashed his full power.

Move: Double Team!

In an instant, ten afterimages appeared, surrounding Geto from all sides.

With the level increase, Darkrai gained greater control over his moves.

Not only were there more clones, but he also incorporated two commonly used skills.

Ominous Wind, Quick Attack.

High speed, buffs, offense and defense in one.

Darkrai didn't just grow stronger; his combat intelligence also improved.

Seeing Darkrai like this, Suguru Geto got even more fired up.

He unleashed fodder-level cursed spirits, blocking Darkrai's path, laughing loudly.

"To think you can grow by devouring cursed spirits—splendid! Join me. The new world needs your power."

Darkrai ignored him, countering with a Disable move.

Not only Akira, but Darkrai also disliked terrorists like Suguru Geto.

To reiterate: the God of Nightmares controls nightmares, but his heart is pure.

Geto pulled a cursed spirit in front of him as a shield, blocking the Disable, while staring directly at Darkrai:

"You understand what I'm saying? You truly surprise me. I will definitely have you—Akira, here's my final offer: hand it over, or even if you're Gojo's student, I won't hold back."

"Oh? How exactly will you not hold back?"

At this point, how could Akira back down?

Although farming small fry no longer yielded much experience, as long as Darkrai's experience bar kept moving, Akira still had a chance.

Geto didn't respond verbally—he just smiled slightly and raised one finger.

In the next instant, a violent explosion of fire tore through the darkness. The fierce shockwave indiscriminately swept across the ground, dispersing the nine Darkrai clones, twisting them into oblivion.

The level 62 real Darkrai remained uninjured, but the shockwave prevented him from advancing.

"A bomb?"

That was Akira's first reaction, but he soon denied it himself.

Because he sensed the cursed energy within the explosion—the unique aura of a cursed spirit.

"A cursed spirit born out of fear of explosions?"

"Did you know that as society progresses, many fears born out of ignorance gradually disappear? Conversely, new fears are also born."

Geto's voice came from above, where he stood atop a massive bird-like cursed spirit with a wingspan of over five meters.

"The levels of newly born cursed spirits may not be very high, but if used properly, they can be more powerful than ancient cursed spirits."

Before he even finished speaking, clusters of flaming cursed spirits fell from the sky. They were the embodiment of humanity's fear of explosions—explosive curses.

Just as Geto said, they weren't high-level, only Grade 2 or 3, and their attack was simple—explosions.

But for that very reason, they were more troublesome than high-grade cursed spirits.

Because of their lower level, they were easier to collect and greater in number.

Because of their simplicity, they were easier to use.

Even if these cursed spirits, like bombs, were one-time-use items, and even if Geto himself might get caught in the explosions, it was still the best way to break the stalemate.

Can't eat them if I blow them up, can you?

More importantly, within the blast range was not only Darkrai but also Akira.

Though Geto wanted Darkrai, he hadn't forgotten who the real master and true core was.

Targeting the sorcerer (trainer) was the real no-holds-barred strategy.

The towering blaze swiftly receded, the roaring cursed energy dissipated, and amid the smoky aftermath, a black-and-white "meatball" became visible.

"Protected by the Pokémon? How loyal."

Geto could tell at a glance that the "meatball" was composed of Pangoro and Darkrai.

Pangoro, with its massive size, served as the main defense, while Darkrai filled the gaps. The two Pokémon formed a shield to protect Akira from the explosion.

"But by doing this, the Pokémon's combat ability is significantly reduced. You're cornered."

In response to Geto's victory declaration, there was a pure light—something utterly at odds with curses. The light dispelled all the impurities, the smoke, and even healed the Pokémon's injuries.

When Pangoro and Darkrai dissolved their shield and stood up again, the burn marks from the explosions were gone. Even the fur decorations that had been shaved off when they were pretending to be weak had been fully restored.

The source of that pure light was none other than Akira's hands.

Solving problems Pokémon can't is the responsibility of the trainer.

Pokémon Trainer Akira—making a grand entrance!