Logically, even the most ordinary Grass-type could transfer energy and nutrients to a crop and make it sprout and grow at an unbelievable speed.
By normal methods—just watering and fertilizing—crops would grow a bit faster than in Lucas' previous world, but still needed time.
Serperior was one of Lucas' six main Pokémon—far stronger than a typical farm Pokémon. Maybe not legendary, able to reshape the environment, but making potatoes grow quickly should be easy!
Lucas didn't understand. He was stunned.
He let go of the hoe and didn't care that the ground was wet and muddy, just sat down.
He was a farmer now; why worry about appearances? As long as he looked presentable outside, that was enough.
His hands shaking from half a day of work, Lucas dug through his pockets—then remembered he'd given his phone to Dragonite, for contacting Iono, the new Gym Leader of Levincia.
Now he couldn't search for answers online or leave a comment for a farm blogger.
"This is troublesome." Lucas sat cross-legged, reviewing his steps. He may have been clumsy but hadn't made any big mistakes.
Unable to think of an answer, Lucas looked at Serperior and Swampert and asked, "Can you two see what's wrong?"
Serperior and Swampert exchanged glances. If Lucas was desperate enough to ask them, he must have no idea.
But after a year traveling Paldea with Lucas, all they knew was battle tactics—nothing about farming.
They'd be more comfortable fighting the Elite Four again than answering this.
Just then, a hesitant voice called out, "Brother Lucas, Swampert, Serperior… what are you doing?"
Lucas paused, frowning, and looked up.
A boy with soft, light brown hair, wearing an expensive-looking suit, stood with a Mabosstiff wagging its tail at Lucas.
Lucas blinked in surprise. "Arven? Mabosstiff!? What are you doing here?"
Arven patted Mabosstiff, who'd stayed loyally by his side and fought plenty of wild Pokémon along the way and told it to go play.
Mabosstiff barked and ran off happily, not even bothering to clean its dusty fur.
Arven watched his partner with a gentle smile, then turned to Lucas and said, "I just wanted to hang out with you. What, am I not welcome?"
Lucas: …
Kid, where did you learn to be so sassy?
"Of course you're welcome," Lucas forced a smile, almost mussing Arven's hair before remembering his hands were muddy. He awkwardly retracted his hand and changed the subject, "Do Professor Sada and Professor Turo know you're out?"
At that, Arven's smile froze, and he quietly replied, "They know."
Lucas didn't notice Arven's mood. He figured the previous night's hints to Arven about having dinner with Professor Sada had helped their relationship, so he asked curiously, "What did you have for dinner with Professor Sada last night? Was it good?"
As Lucas turned, Arven quickly covered his emotions, forced a stiff smile, and said softly, "We made sandwiches. They were good…"
Except, actually, he'd made them alone and shared them with Mabosstiff.
Lucas nodded. His hints to Professor Sada seemed to be working—maybe if he kept at it, he could change their future and avoid regrets.
Although making dumplings together was cliché, he liked it.
Lucas squatted in front of Swampert, who was carefully holding the incubator and washed his hands with Swampert's pure Water Gun.
While washing, Lucas said, "By the way, you asked what we were doing—we were trying to plant potatoes, but it looks like we failed."
He dried his hands and pointed at the test plot.
Arven, long since done crying, wasn't too emotional anymore. He quickly recovered and looked at the test plot, confused. "Failed? How could you fail?"
Even he knew potatoes were among the easiest crops to grow.
You can fail at this?
Lucas gestured to Serperior and Swampert and sighed, "We followed the normal process, had Swampert water, Serperior gave the seeds energy and nutrients, but not only did we not get potatoes, not even a sprout appeared."
…
Arven fell silent, staring at Lucas with a complex expression that made Lucas uncomfortable.
Unable to bear the silence, Lucas gave in. "Don't look at me like that! Just say what you want!"
Arven sighed, "This is something even a ten-year-old like me knows, and you just blundered right into it."
Lucas' eye twitched. Sorry for being a literal illiterate in this world.
Unfazed by the muddy hoe, Arven stepped into the field in his expensive suit and shoes, dug for a while, and looked into the hole, a knowing look on his face.
The seed was broken after all.