Pah, How Vile!

If one word had to describe Akesato's life, it would definitely be "roller coaster."

Wild ups and downs, thrills beyond compare.

He won the lottery and thought he could live easy from then on, only to get hit by a car the very next moment.

He thought he was dead for sure, but instead, he transmigrated—and with a golden start, no less.

Kamo Noritsuna.

In Japan, where family pedigree mattered immensely, he was the young master of the Kamo family, one of the oldest of the Three Great Families, and their sole legitimate heir.

To clarify, the family was so ancient that it still maintained a system of one wife and multiple concubines.

Barring any surprises, he was guaranteed to become the next Family Head.

Wasn't that basically winning without even trying?

Wait, the Three Great Families? Kamo?

Wasn't that the setting of Jujutsu Kaisen?

While it was worth celebrating to learn what kind of world he had transmigrated into, the Kamo family's legitimate heir... was a good-for-nothing. He did not even have a name in the original story.

The Kamo family wielded supernatural power—Jujutsu—and upheld the principle of Jujutsu Supremacy.

Those who inherited a Cursed Technique were heaven itself; those who did not were no different from dust or ants.

Legitimate heir or not.

No, being the legitimate heir would only become a burden.

The higher one was raised, the harder one fell.

However, since whether one inherited a Cursed Technique was not determined at birth, but during childhood at around six to eight years old, Kamo Noritsuna could still enjoy the treatment of a legitimate heir for the time being.

Once his shelf life expired, he would immediately fall from heaven into hell—far harder to accept than being born in hell to begin with.

Those who had never experienced hope could never understand despair.

When the truth that Kamo Noritsuna lacked the aptitude to become a Jujutsu Sorcerer was exposed, his biological parents, the Kamo head and his legal wife, made a decision so cold-blooded it was heartless.

They swapped identities.

Kamo Noriki, the illegitimate son born to the concubine—who at the time was still Kamo Hayami—became the legitimate heir, while Kamo Noritsuna became the useless illegitimate son.

Before one's aptitude as a Jujutsu Sorcerer was determined, all information was confidential anyway, making it easy to manipulate.

The reason was simple.

The legal wife's son had no talent, while the concubine had given birth to someone capable of inheriting the family. That would greatly shake the legal wife's position.

To protect her status, and for the family's so-called "stability."

Not only did they have to do it, they had to do it thoroughly.

While spreading news to the outside and rumors within the family to slander the concubine's reputation, they also "reasoned with her through emotion and logic": only if she left would the family truly be stable, and only then would her child have a bright future.

As for the cruelty of forcibly taking the child from his mother, the thoughts of the concubine and Kamo Noriki himself, or even the feelings of the legitimate heir forced to conceal his identity—who cared?

A mere lowborn concubine could not stir up any trouble, and neither could two children.

Just as the legal wife expected, the concubine made the "wise" choice. She left the Kamo family, cut all ties completely, and even persuaded Kamo Noriki to accept reality.

The only unexpected part was the choice of her biological son, Kamo Noritsuna. Claiming that since he could not become a Jujutsu Sorcerer anyway, he might as well live as an ordinary person, he left with the concubine.

Still, that was no major issue. From the moment Kamo Noriki was declared the legitimate heir, Kamo Noritsuna had nothing to do with the legal wife anymore. If anything, this was better—erasing all traces and leaving behind no hidden danger.

This was exactly what Kamo Noritsuna wanted. How the nameless extra in the story chose did not matter. What mattered was that Akesato, the transmigrator, no longer wanted to stay in a place where Jujutsu reigned supreme and endure others' cold stares.

The world outside was so vast. Why hang himself from a single tree?

Without them, without Jujutsu, he could still live well. If he could not even manage that, then he had wasted twenty-six years in his previous life.

Even if leaving the family meant accepting an extremely strict Kikaku—"Kikaku" was an ancient term for a contract, and once imbued with cursed energy, it became a binding clause backed by enforcement. Violators would pay a terrible price.

Even if he had to live in a designated location and remain under the Kamo family's surveillance for five years, it did not matter. Youth was his greatest asset.

However, Akesato had accounted for everything except the fact that the god of fate was a madwoman who never played by the rules. Just when you thought you had seen beneath her skirt, it turned out she was going commando.

The moment he finished moving, his cheat awakened—the Pokémon Trainer System—along with a beginner's gift pack containing one Pokémon Egg.

It hatched into Gardevoir's earliest form, Ralts.

Akesato's mood at the time could be summed up in four words—

Fan Jin passing the imperial examination.

If he had not gotten hungry in the end, he could have stayed high all day.

After that, there was not much to say. He raised Pokémon.

Akemi did not say much either.

Having lived in the Jujutsu world, she was not constrained by common sense. Besides, she knew Akesato was an extraordinary child.

He raised Ralts for eight years, until she became Gardevoir.

At this point, there were very few things that could threaten Akesato. His age, timing, and circumstances were all just right.

It was time to leave the mountain and enter the world.

Not using the advantage of foreknowledge would be a waste.

Having the Pokémon Trainer System but only one Pokémon would also be a waste.

"Mom, you've worked hard these past eight years. From now on, you don't have to keep wronging yourself. Go chase a better future."

Those words were meant for both Akemi and Akesato himself.

Hadn't eight years of forbearance been for the day when they would no longer have to endure?

The boy rose to his feet, taking his mother's hand in one hand and Gardevoir's in the other, conveying his feelings.

With the two most important people in his life beside him, he could charge forward without fear.

Akemi did not immediately agree to her son's request, nor did she refuse. After hesitating again and again, she finally asked a question:

"About the choice you mentioned just now, I want to hear your opinion. Would you rather I stay, or return to Noriki's side?"

"To me, it's pretty much the same. If you stay, I'll take care of you for the rest of your life. If you go back to Noriki, you're still my mom. Can't I visit and take care of my mother? If Noriki dares to object, I'll beat him up. Just don't be too biased toward him when the time comes."

With reason, one could travel the world; without reason, one could not take a single step. And Akesato had both reason and physical force.

"I understand."

Hearing that answer, Akemi finally put her mind at ease.

"You've grown up. Mom can't control you forever. If you want to move, then move. This place really is a little too lonely."

"Mom is the best~"

Perhaps because he was used to lifting people up, Akesato wanted to lift Akemi up too.

Tokyo, here I come.

A broader world, more Pokémon, greater opportunities.

And Akesato's own ambitions—now that he had come to another world, of course he had to show what he was truly capable of. Only then would he not squander this second life.

Naturally, Akemi immediately smacked him on the head. "Watch your manners. Mom isn't some little girl you raised. I almost forgot—what's her name now?"

"Gardevoir."

"Gardevoir~" Gardevoir answered obediently, as well-behaved as ever.

"Then, Gardevoir, from today onward, you and Akesato will sleep in separate rooms."

"Gardevoir?" x2

"It was fine when you were little, but both you and Gardevoir are grown now. This isn't appropriate." Akemi spoke with complete confidence. "Or are you two really planning to have a child?"

Akesato: "..."

If he remembered correctly, Pokémon and humans were reproductively isolated, right?

He instinctively glanced at Gardevoir, only to find that she was looking at him too, her large eyes brimming with innocence and confusion.

Akesato slapped himself across the face.

What was I thinking? A person shouldn't—at the very least, shouldn't...

Besides, she was only eight years old. Only eight!

Pah, how vile!