I'm Sorry for Being Illiterate

In theory, even the most ordinary Grass-type Pokémon could make crops sprout, grow, and bear fruit at a rate that defied everything Luo Mu had known before being transported here, so long as they were willing to transfer their own energy and some of the nutrients they had stored for growth into the crops.

If crops were planted normally and merely watered and fertilized on schedule each day, their growth cycle would be somewhat faster than before Luo Mu had been transported here, but they would still need a certain amount of time to mature.

As one of Luo Mu's six main Pokémon, Serperior was countless times stronger than the ordinary Pokémon on the farm. It might not have been powerful enough to alter the surrounding environment single-handedly like a Legendary Pokémon.

But making potato seeds grow quickly should have been a piece of cake, shouldn't it?

Luo Mu did not understand. He was utterly shaken.

His grip on the hoe loosened. Not caring that the ground was still muddy and wet, Luo Mu plopped down onto the earth.

He was already someone who worked the fields, so why care about appearances? As long as he looked presentable when he went out, that was enough.

Luo Mu's fingers, trembling slightly after only half a day of farm work, shakily searched through his pocket. When he found nothing, he remembered that he had deliberately hung his phone around Dragonite's neck so it could contact Iono, who was waiting in Levincia.

Now, he could not take the best shortcuts—searching online for answers or leaving a comment under a farming blogger's video and waiting for them to clear up his confusion.

"Ugh... this is going to be difficult." Luo Mu sat cross-legged and tried his best to recall and review what he had done while farming earlier. His movements had been a little unskilled, but he had not made any major mistakes.

After thinking for a long time without finding an answer, Luo Mu could only turn to Serperior and Swampert beside him and ask, "Can you tell where the problem is?"

Serperior and Swampert looked at each other. Luo Mu had become so desperate that he was trying to get answers from them—he really had no other options.

But Serperior and Swampert had spent the past year accompanying Luo Mu as he battled across the Paldea Region. What did they know about growing crops?

Their heads contained nothing but battle techniques. Damn it, nothing but battle techniques.

Asking them this question would be less useful than having them challenge the Paldea Region Elite Four again. At least with their previous experience, that would be much easier. At the very least, they would not be standing here with all three of them completely clueless.

Just as Luo Mu and the others were at their wits' end, a slightly hesitant voice sounded. "Brother Luo Mu, Swampert, Serperior... what are you doing?"

Luo Mu's miserable expression froze as he looked toward the newcomer.

He had soft, short light-brown hair and wore a little suit that looked expensive at a glance. At his side was Mabosstiff, wagging its tail wildly at Luo Mu.

Luo Mu blinked and cried out, "Arven, Mabosstiff!? Why are you here?"

Arven patted the head of Mabosstiff, which had dutifully stayed by his side and fought quite a few Wild Pokémon along the way, telling it that it could go play.

Mabosstiff let out a howl. It was so eager that it did not even lick the dust from its fur before charging straight into the open field to frolic.

Arven watched Mabosstiff romp through the field with a gentle smile. Then he turned to Luo Mu and said, "I suddenly wanted to come play with you, Brother Luo Mu. What, am I not welcome?"

Luo Mu: "..."

Kid, where did you learn this fake-sweet way of talking?

"Welcome, of course you're welcome." The corners of Luo Mu's mouth twitched as he forced out a smile. He wanted to ruffle Arven's hair with his thieving hands, but halfway through reaching out, he remembered that one hand was still covered in mud. Under Arven's puzzled gaze, he sheepishly withdrew his hands, turned to look into the distance, and changed the subject. "Do Professor Sada and Professor Turo know you came out?"

At that, Arven's slightly upturned lips stiffened. He lowered his eyes and quietly said, "They know."

Immersed in the awkward atmosphere, Luo Mu failed to notice that something was off with Arven's mood this time.

Luo Mu thought that he had sent Arven home so early yesterday and even reminded him that he could make dinner with Professor Sada. The mother and son's relationship had probably grown much closer, so he turned back and curiously asked, "What did you make for dinner with Professor Sada last night? Was it good?"

The instant Luo Mu turned away, Arven hid his emotions. Forcing himself to show a slightly stiff smile, he quietly replied, "We made sandwiches. They were very good."

But he had made the sandwiches alone, then shared them with Mabosstiff.

Luo Mu nodded slightly. It seemed his indirect probing with Professor Sada and the others had achieved some results. If he kept at it, perhaps he really could change the two professors' minds and avoid the regretful ending that might come in the future.

It might have been cliché for everyone to sit together and make dumplings, but he liked it.

Luo Mu crouched in front of Swampert, who was carefully holding the incubator, and held out his hands. Swampert obediently sprayed water from its mouth. It looked a little bizarre, but the stream was indeed formed from pure Water-type energy and was extremely clean.

As he washed his hands, Luo Mu said, "Come to think of it, I still haven't answered the question you asked earlier. We were trying to plant potatoes, but it looks like we failed."

Luo Mu shook the water from his hands and pointed to the Experimental Field he had temporarily marked out.

Arven had cried over it long ago, so he no longer felt much emotion now. He quickly composed himself, blinked, and looked toward the Experimental Field Luo Mu was pointing at in confusion. "Failed? How could it fail?"

Even he knew that potatoes were one of the easiest crops to grow.

And they had failed at growing those?

Luo Mu gestured toward Serperior and Swampert with his lips and sighed. "After planting them according to the normal process, I had Swampert water them, then Serperior transferred nutrients and Grass-type energy into the seeds. But forget potatoes—there wasn't even a sprout."

"..."

Arven fell silent and looked at Luo Mu with an odd, complicated expression. The look made Luo Mu's back go cold, leaving him utterly baffled.

Unable to bear Arven's wordless stare, Luo Mu raised his hands in surrender. "Don't look at me like that. Just say whatever you want to say!"

Arven shook his head and sighed for a while before helplessly revealing the truth. "This is common knowledge that even a ten-year-old like me knows, yet Brother Luo Mu, you just blindly ran right into it."

The corner of Luo Mu's eye twitched. Sorry that this version of me never went to school and is actually illiterate.

Arven did not mind the mud stuck to the hoe at all. Wearing his expensive-looking little suit and leather shoes, he stepped into the field. After digging for a short while, he looked into the hole, and a flash of understanding crossed his face.

The seeds had split apart. Just as he thought.