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.”