Ch.11 Let’s Hatch an Egg

The egg, of course, was a Pokémon egg.

Even though Akira had already written off his system as a trashy mobile game system, he still thought that the design of "not getting Pokémon eggs by defeating monsters" was quite reasonable.

In other worlds, it might not matter, but in the Jujutsu Kaisen world, where the wild monsters are cursed spirits made of negative energy, they don't really match up with the cute and charming Pokémon.

If Pokémon eggs were dropped from defeating cursed spirits, it would only make sense if they were something like Gastly, Misdreavus, or Shuppet. In that case, Akira would be stuck on the path of a "Ghost-type Trainer" with no return.

Thankfully, the trashy system was at least reliable in this regard.

The key to obtaining Pokémon wasn't from cursed spirits, but from living beings. More specifically, it had to do with Maki, Panda, and Toge.

Akira had gone through countless maps without any reaction from the system, but when the trio introduced themselves, the system responded.

[Detected Pokémon meme. Meme collected and converted. Congratulations! You've obtained a Pokémon egg.]

Thinking back to the time the system activated eight years ago, Akira developed a theory.

Of course, whether it was correct or not would have to wait until the egg hatched.

Akira was eager to get home to hatch the egg.

In the Pokémon world, there are professional facilities and processes for hatching eggs. Unfortunately, this unreliable system didn't provide any of those, so Akira had to resort to his own method—talking to the egg and sleeping with it, because that's the essence of the Pokémon series.

What? You're asking about Pokemon: Journeys, the One Poke-Ball Man, or characters with built-in charm?

Sorry, Akira transmigrated early, so he hadn't seen that yet. To him, Sun and Moon was the end of the series. He didn't even know who this "Goh" character was.

Anyway, that's how Ralts was hatched.

One morning, the egg cracked on his bed, and suddenly there was a tiny girl with green hair and a white dress, no bigger than the size of his palm, lying on his arm.

And Akira's reaction could be summed up in four words—

Akira hit the jackpot.

If he hadn't gotten hungry and his mom hadn't called him to eat, he would have stayed in that state of "super High" for much longer.

With a successful experience already under his belt, Akira wasn't about to do anything differently this time.

As soon as he got home, Akira took the egg out, cradled it in his arms, and started whispering to it, "Hatch quickly, won't you..."

The result? It shocked his mother for a whole year.

"Akira, are you okay?"

Hayami was genuinely startled, thinking her son had been cursed by some malevolent spirit and had undergone a complete personality change.

"I'm fine, really. It's just part of the process. If I treat it well, it will treat me well too."

Akira wasn't fazed at all. In his mind, this was the same for human relationships.

"As long as you're fine. But you know, Gar-chan might get jealous."

"Gar~"

Sitting beside Akira, Gardevoir quickly shook her head, but her dimmed eyes and drooping green hair made it clear that she was indeed feeling a little down.

After all, it used to be her who got this kind of attention. Especially during her Ralts days, she had practically used Akira's lap as a chair and his stomach as a cushion.

The sight of her feeling sad but not wanting to trouble her master tugged at his heart.

"Sorry, that's my fault."

Akira couldn't bear it any longer after just one glance. He reached out to hold Gardevoir's small hand, but now he didn't know where to put the egg, making him flustered.

In the end, it was Gardevoir who used her Psychic powers to lift the egg, curiously examining this future companion.

An idea popped into Akira's head. "Gar-chan, do you know how to hatch an egg?"

Since Pokémon are oviparous, hatching should be an instinct for them, right? Or so he thought.

"Gar? (⊙_⊙)?"

Gardevoir tilted her head in confusion, then placed the egg in her own lap.

Akira: "..."

That's just my method, isn't it?

Never mind, I'll do it myself.

Just as he was about to take the egg back, another pair of hands reached out and cradled the egg before him.

It was Hayami.

"If all it takes is holding it and talking to it, then let me do it. Hatch soon, little one, and hopefully, you'll be as cute as Gar-chan."

"Gar~" Gardevoir was thrilled to be complimented.

Akira was also delighted. If his mom really managed to bring out a good result, it would be doubly satisfying.

Setting aside Hayami's hopeful nurturing abilities, Akira figured letting his mom handle the egg was a good choice.

After all, she was the only one in the house with actual parenting experience.

And if she ever got too busy, they could take turns caring for it. Akira's entire household was full of good people, so bonding with any of them wouldn't be a bad thing for the Pokémon.

"Okay, it's decided. Mom, you hold the egg for now. I'll go make dinner. Gar-chan, come help me."

"Gar~ Gar~"

"Wait a second, Gar-chan, you go wash the vegetables. Akira, head to your room first. You've got a letter from MF Bunko on your desk."

"Double the good news! Gar-chan's predictions were spot on."

Akira hurried back to his room, and two minutes later, he came running back out, placing the letter on the coffee table.

"It's a contract offer! Soon, my book will be published. I'll call the editor right away."

"Hello, is this Editor Machida? Hi, this is RED, the author of Infinite Stratos—"

Watching Akira in high spirits, both Hayami and Gardevoir were just as happy. The house was filled with joy, and even the Pokémon egg in Hayami's arms trembled slightly, as if it could feel the positive atmosphere.

...

Three days later.

Due to the contract preparations, Gardevoir's training, and the new Pokémon egg, Akira hadn't gone out to level grind. He had stayed home the whole time and slept better than usual.

What woke him from his sleep was an itch in his nose, as if something was gently tickling it.

"Gar-chan, stop it."

Half-asleep, Akira murmured. When Ralts was still small, she used to climb on his face and play like this sometimes.

Unexpectedly, the tickling sensation on his nose intensified. Opening his eyes, he saw a pair of panda eyes staring back at him.

Literal panda eyes.

It was a tiny panda, only a few dozen centimeters tall, holding a bamboo leaf in its mouth. Its black little paws curiously scratched at Akira's face.

"Pancham!"

Akira blurted out. The little one seemed startled and immediately stepped on Akira's face, jumping out of the room through the half-open door.

"Don't run!"

Akira quickly jumped out of bed to chase after it.

As soon as he left his room, he saw Hayami and Gardevoir running in circles, trying to catch the energetic panda, who was bouncing around chaotically. The mischievous nature of the little panda was on full display.

No wonder it's a Pancham—completely different from the well-behaved Ralts.

Since that's the case, raising it like Ralts wasn't going to work. A troublemaker like Pancham needed stricter discipline, or it'd cause havoc.

"Gar-chan, use Psychic to hold it in place."

"Gar~"

Although Gardevoir didn't want to bully the newborn, she followed Akira's order and used Psychic to pull the mischievous Pancham toward them.

Akira gave it a light flick on the forehead and lectured it. "Playing is fine, but you need to know your limits. Don't cause trouble for others, and don't wreck the house!"

"This little one was just born, it doesn't understand much yet. Don't be too hasty," Hayami said, laughing, as if she had found something Akira wasn't good at.

She reached out and took Pancham into her arms, gently rocking and soothing it. "Don't be scared, your big brother and sister are just playing with you."

Although Pancham didn't resemble humans like Gardevoir, Hayami liked it just as much, not only because it was cute but also because of its playful nature.

Her two sons, Kamo Noritoshi and Akira, were both too serious and lacked the liveliness that children should have. Pancham's arrival filled that void.

To this, Akira thought, Whatever makes you happy, Mom.

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

Akira naturally went to answer it. Today was the day he had arranged to meet the editor, although they were a bit early. It wouldn't do to keep them waiting outside.

As he walked toward the door, he didn't forget to signal to Gardevoir, telling her to hide in his room. The editor was just a regular person, unrelated to the world of curses.

However, as Gardevoir turned to leave, the mischievous Pancham in Hayami's arms suddenly jumped up, bouncing off the walls and ceiling, and with a "whoosh," it leaped out through the open door, landing right on the head of the editor standing outside, whose white mop of hair stood out.

Akira: "...Oh... crap."