by Alex Polan
Ethan expected the dog to lead them up to the top of the bridge, where the tan teenager was still fishing with his friends.
Instead, Sandy led them under the bridge, to a large flat rock where a boy was sitting. Ethan recognized him immediately: it was the blonde kid with the buzz cut and the bright orange shorts. He was the owner of the Chocolate Lab—who was nowhere in sight.
“Noah!” the girl with the ponytail cried. “Where’s Snickers?”
Noah put his phone away and jumped up off the rock. “I don’t know! He was here a minute ago. He must have smelled hot dogs cooking or something.”
His sister sighed. “It was your job to watch the dogs instead of playing Pokémon GO,” she said. “We gotta find Snickers. Oh, and it sounds like he’s got a friend with him, too—a little orange Chow.”
“Mystic,” said Devin. “Her name is Mystic.” She looked like she was going to cry.
“Yeah, I remember your dog,” said Noah. “She likes to steal tennis balls.”
Ethan nodded. “That’s her.” Only this time, your dog stole the tennis ball! he wanted to add. But he was pretty sure that wouldn’t help matters right now.
Noah led them out from under the bridge and toward the far side of the lake, past the vacation cottages.
“If I know Snickers, he’s over here somewhere,” said Noah. “Follow me. Or better yet, follow Sandy.”
The Yellow Lab led the group with her nose to the ground. She led them straight to a wooden structure that had what looked like a kitchen sink in the middle of it. A stench rose to greet them from the garbage bins nearby.
“Pee ew,” said Devin, holding her nose. “What is this place?”
“It’s a fish-cleaning station,” explained Noah. “This is pretty much Snickers’s favorite place. There he is now!”
Noah jogged toward the water. And there was Snickers, rolling around in the mud—or what Ethan hoped was only mud. Right beside him, as if they were best buddies, was Mystic.
Her yellow tennis ball stuck out of the end of her mouth. She’d gotten it back after all.
“Mystic!”
As soon as Devin launched toward the puppy, Mystic took off, dragging her leash behind her.
“Don’t run after her!” said Ethan. “She’ll think it’s a game of chase.”
He stood very still and whistled for her. Then he reached into his pocket. Mystic stopped running and tracked his hand with her eyes.
As soon as he pulled the Magikarp biscuit out of his pocket, she dropped her ball and hurried over.
And then she did something she’d never done for him before.
She sat.
“Wow, what a smart puppy,” said Noah’s sister. “You trained her well.”
Ethan’s ears burned with pride. “Thanks,” he said. Then he reached down and grabbed Mystic’s leash. Firmly. As if he’d never let it go again.
Noah had a hold of Snickers’s collar, too. With his other hand, he waved at Ethan. “I never introduced myself,” he said. “I’m Noah.”
“Yeah, I know who you are,” said Ethan with a smile. “You’re the Magikarp Kid.”
CHAPTER 12
“How’d you know my Trainer name?” asked Noah. “Have we battled before at the gym?”
Ethan was almost embarrassed to say yes. He was glad when Carlo stepped up to introduce himself.
“You’ve got a really powerful Gyarados,” Carlo said. “I couldn’t beat it. And believe me, I tried!”
“Thanks,” said Noah. “It’s new. It took me all summer to collect enough Magikarp to evolve it.”
“That’s a lot of Pokémon GO playing,” said his sister, rolling her eyes. “But I shouldn’t judge. I’m kind of addicted, too.”
“Are you Sandstorm?” Gianna asked the girl, with a sideways glance and a smile. “Because if you are, you’re really good, too.”
“Yes!” said the girl, with an embarrassed laugh. “And thanks. But you can call me Nina.”
Ethan wanted to compliment her on her Kingler, but he had more pressing questions to ask.
“So why exactly do you love Magikarp so much?” he asked Noah as they walked back toward the bridge.
Noah laughed. “I don’t, really. But there are lots of them to catch around here. And Snickers loves his carp. I’m pretty sure that’s what he was rolling in back by the fish-cleaning station.”
Ew. Ethan slowed down to put a little more distance between Mystic and the Chocolate Lab.
Then Devin asked the question that everyone was wondering. “Who made the maps showing where to find all the Pokémon?”
Noah stopped walking and shot a glance at Nina. “Did you tell them about the maps?” he asked.
She shrank back, looking offended. “No! I thought you were hoarding them all. I haven’t seen a single map all week.”
“That’s probably because we found them,” explained Gianna quickly. “At least two of them. But we weren’t looking for them! Mystic here just has a knack for finding them—and chewing them up.”
Noah’s eyes widened. “Well that explains it!” he said. “I thought Grandpa Joe was just getting bored with the game.”
“Grandpa Joe?” asked Ethan.
“Yeah,” said Noah. “He’s the one who made the maps for me. He’d overhear kids finding Pokémon while he was fishing, and then he’d mark down the hot spots for me and leave a map in a secret spot. It's just more fun than showing me the spots himself. It was our game this summer.”
“Cool,” said Ethan.
“Yeah, I wish I had a grandpa like that,” said Carlo.
Noah’s cheeks turned pink. “He loves to fish. When we came to the cottage this summer, he really wanted me to like fishing, too, but …”
“But you don’t?” said Carlo. “I get it. I don’t really like it either!”
Noah looked relieved. “So the maps are kind of our way of fishing together—me and Grandpa Joe.”
Ethan nodded. “That’s pretty cool.”
When they reached the bridge, they fell into an awkward silence. “Well,” said Ethan, “we’ll probably see you here again tomorrow. We’ll be here all week, at least until school starts.”
Noah sighed. “Not us. We’re packing up and going home tomorrow. Maybe we’ll see you again next summer, though?”
Carlo laughed. “That’ll give us time to power up our Pokémon,” he said. “So we can take on that Gyarados of yours.”
“For sure,” said Noah with a smile. “We’ll be back. C’mon, Snickers. Let’s go get you a bath.”
As he and Nina led the dogs toward one of the vacation cottages, Mystic strained at the leash, wanting to follow her new friends.
“I know,” said Ethan. “You just made some puppy pals, and now you have to say good-bye. But the tennis ball—and the treats—are heading this way.” He held out the ball, and Mystic immediately followed.
“Do you think Dad is still sleeping?” asked Devin. “He missed all the excitement!”
“I hope he’s not sleeping,” said Ethan. “His face was in the sun.”
“Uh-oh,” said Devin. She started walking a little faster.
But when they got within sight of the willow tree, they saw that Dad was talking to someone. The two men were sitting safely under the shade of the tree. Phew!
Ethan immediately recognized the fisherman. I’d be able to spot that white hair from a mile away, he thought to himself.
Dad was laughing with the man when the kids approached. “Oh, hey!” he said. “These are the kids I was telling you about. They’re good kids, every one of them—mostly.” He winked at Ethan. “They’re not big on fishing, though.”
The white-haired man smiled. “Just take them to the secret spot I showed you,” he said to Dad. “Once they see what’s biting there, they’ll get hooked—no pun intended.”
Dad laughed, of course. That joke is right up Dad’s alley, thought Ethan. No wonder these guys get along.
Then Dad held up a fishing map for everyone to
see. “My new fishing buddy shared a secret,” he said. “X marks the spot—the spot where I’m going to catch the big one.”
“Really?” said Ethan, searching the map for the X.
There it was, in the farthest corner of the lake, near the vacation rentals. The X was big. Bold. And very red.
“Grandpa Joe?” said Ethan, glancing toward the white-haired man. “Hey, are you the Pokémon map maker?”
He watched the man’s face spread into a slow smile.
“That’s me,” said Grandpa Joe, extending a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
CHAPTER 13
“He stole that information from us!” said Ethan, still thinking about Grandpa Joe. “Remember when you were catching Poliwag on the rocks, Carlo? And he asked if you were catching tadpoles? He was fishing for information about Pokémon! And we didn’t even know it. That’s one sneaky fisherman.”
“He didn’t steal information. We gave it to him,” said Carlo with a smile. “Besides, he gave us information, too. Think about all the Pokémon I caught at the beach the other day.”
“He gave me good info, too,” said Dad, casting his line over the edge of the boat. “Let’s hope it pans out. Actually, let me use a different word. Let’s hope it’s the biggest tip of the year!”
They’d rented another fishing boat—bigger this time. Gianna was navigating with the map from a seat up front.
Devin still stayed behind on shore, but she and Mystic were playing ball this time instead of watching and waving. Ethan smiled with pride when he saw Mystic sit for her ball. Devin rewarded her with the last crumbs of the Magikarp biscuit.
Then he turned to Carlo, who was sitting beside him. “Are there any Pokémon out here?” he asked.
Carlo shook his head. “But I think that’s a good sign. Places that are full of Pokémon don’t seem to be full of fish. And vice versa. I think we’re finally figuring this place out.”
“It’s about time,” said Ethan, peering over the side of the boat. Just as he looked down, something swam under the boat. Something long. Something dark and shadowy.
“Either that was Gyarados,” he whispered, scarcely breathing, “or Dad is about to catch the big one.”
“You caught the b-i-i-i-g-g one! You caught the b-i-i-i-g-g one!”
Ethan and Devin danced around Dad, repeating one of Devin’s made-up songs.
Dad joined in, too, singing his own kind of lyrics as he balanced the plate of grilled fish in his hands. “I caught the b-i-i-i-g-g one. I really d-i-i-i-d-d it.” He shimmied his shoulders and wiggled his hips, doing a circle dance around the dining room table.
“No crispy little fish tonight,” said Mom with a smile. “Grilled Northern and homemade coleslaw. I hope you kids are hungry!”
“Starved,” said Ethan. “But before we eat, I think we should all take a moment to admire Dad and his prized fish. Devin, cue the photo, please.”
She tapped on her phone and scrolled through her photos. “There he is!” she said, tilting the phone so everyone could see.
Sure enough, there was Dad, holding up his Northern Pike beside him—the one that didn’t get away. It was forty-six inches long, according to Dad. It stretched from his sunburned nose down to the bottoms of his baggy cargo shorts.
Dad’s smile looked about forty-six inches wide, too. Sunburn or no sunburn, that’s one happy Dad, thought Ethan.
“So where did you catch this again?” asked Mom, scooping coleslaw onto Dad’s plate.
“I can’t tell,” said Dad. “It’s top secret. But let’s just say that I had a little help from my new friend, Joe.”
“Joe?” said Mom. “Wait, is that a nickname for one of your Weedle?”
“No!” said Devin, busting out laughing. “He’s a real guy.”
“With a real grandson who loves Magikarp—or at least his dog does,” added Ethan.
“And he has a Gyarados,” said Devin. “A super-powerful one.”
“Never mind,” said Mom, holding up her hand. “Pokémon information overload. But speaking of dogs, where’s our Mystic?”
Ethan spun around in his chair, searching. He finally found the orange fluff ball under the rocking chair, curved into a C shape. “There she is,” he whispered. “She looks like a fuzzy-wuzzy caterpillar.”
Her body jerked a little as she chased her own big fish, or maybe a tiny yellow tennis ball.
“Fuzzy Wuzzy,” said Devin. “There’s a new nickname.”
This time, Ethan didn’t argue. Devin could call the dog whatever she wanted. Because now he knew that when he called Mystic, his puppy would come.
Do you love playing Pokémon GO?
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Available wherever books are sold!
