CHAPTER 1

“The petals are falling!” Devin held up her phone so that Ethan could see her Pokémon GO map.

Sure enough, Dottie’s Doughnuts, their favorite Team Mystic gym, was being showered by pink petals from the PokéStop out front.

“Carlo must have set his lure,” said Ethan, scanning the sidewalk for his friend.

Carlo was the Gym Leader, and he had decided that every Saturday morning, he would set a lure to bring more customers into Dottie’s shop. That’s how Team Mystic took care of their favorite gym—and made sure it stayed open!

Any moment now, Pokémon GO players would show up to see which wild Pokémon the lure was attracting. And hopefully they’ll buy lots of doughnuts, too, thought Ethan.

He took a bite of Dottie’s famous Jigglypuff doughnut, which was frosted pink, with candy eyes and chocolate-kiss ears.

She’d been making them for a few weeks now, along with a couple of other Pokémon specials. Her Butterfree doughnut was gluten- and dairy-free. And then there was Dad’s personal favorite: the Drowzee, which was served with a free cup of coffee.

Ethan watched someone walk by, eating a Drowzee. The bottom of the vanilla-cake doughnut was dipped in chocolate. Yum!

“I think I’ll try a Drowzee next time,” he said to Devin. “Minus the coffee, I mean.”

“Not me. I’m sticking with the Jigglypuff.”

Surprise, surprise, thought Ethan. His little sister had the world’s biggest sweet tooth. Why would she settle for a half-frosted doughnut when she could have one that was completely frosted?

He smiled as Devin wiped a streak of pink frosting off her chin with the back of her hand.

“Need a napkin, sweetie?” Dottie approached the table with a paper napkin and a warm smile. “Looks like the Jigglypuffs taste especially good today.”

Devin answered with her mouth full. “They’re delicious!”

“I’m glad to hear it. Now, maybe you two can help me choose my next Pokémon-themed doughnut. I’m doing a little survey.” Dottie pulled a pencil out from behind her ear. “Which one of these sounds better?” she asked.

Ethan leaned forward so that he could hear her over the buzz of voices outside. People were definitely starting to show up for the lure!

“First choice: I could make a blueberry Squirtle with a chocolate-frosting shell and whipped cream that ‘squirts’ out of the middle. Get it?”

Devin scrunched up her nose. “That squirting part sounds kind of gross.”

Dottie frowned. “You might be right. Well, here’s choice number two: the Diglett chocolate-cake pop. Or maybe we’ll call it the Dugtrio, and sell three cake pops for the price of two.”

Devin bobbed her head up and down. “Yes! That sounds better.”

“Wait, there’s one more,” said Dottie, holding up her hand. “How about the Mankey? That’s a powdered-sugar doughnut with banana-cream filling, of course.”

“Sold!” said Ethan. “I’ll take a dozen—once you’ve invented them, I mean.”

Dottie smiled. “Okay, sounds like one vote for the Dugtrio cake pops and one for the Mankey.” She marked something on her notepad and slid the pencil back into her thick, gray hair. “We’ll see what the other customers think. Looks like they’re finally coming in!”

Sure enough, the bell over her front door was jingling.

And Ethan’s and Devin’s phones were suddenly buzzing.

“Ugh, it’s a Zubat,” Ethan said. “That Pokémon stresses me out. I just can’t catch things with wings.”

“Me neither. That’s why I just take its picture,” said Devin. Taking photos was her solution for pesky Pokémon. She held up her phone and snapped a photo of the Zubat flapping right over Ethan’s head.

When he saw the photo, he ducked. “Yikes! Get that thing away from me.”

“Get it yourself,” said Devin. “See if you can catch it.”

So he tried. Boy, did he try. He flung Poké Balls above, below, and all around that fluttering Zubat. Some of them seemed to go right through the Zubat. But none of them captured it. “It’s like he’s invisible!” said Ethan.

“Who?”

Gianna, Carlo’s younger sister, slid into the booth beside them. Her dark curls were pressed against her head, as if she’d just pulled off a bike helmet. “I got here as soon as I could. What did I miss?”

“You didn’t miss anything,” said Ethan. “You could catch this Zubat easily. But I’ve burned, like, a hundred Poké Balls on it.” He tried one more, and then he slid the phone across the table to Gianna. “You try. Please.”

Gianna didn’t have her own phone, but she often borrowed Devin’s or Carlo’s to catch Pokémon—and she was the best shot on Team Mystic.

“You just have to center the Pokémon on your screen,” she said, as if she were teaching Ethan how to catch a Caterpie. “Then a straight shot should do it.” She swiped the Poké Ball, and sure enough, she caught the Zubat on the first try.

Ethan spun sideways in the booth and pretended to bang his head on the window. “Why can’t I do it?” he groaned. “I’m a Level-Seven Trainer, and a Gym Defender at two gyms. But I can’t catch a stinkin’ Zubat.”

“You’re Level Seven already?” someone asked.

It was Carlo, who was just stepping through the front door. “When you hit Level Eight, you’ll get Razz Berries. Then I’ll teach you how to sweeten up those annoying Zubat and catch ’em all, no problem.”

He was a Level-Thirteen Trainer, so he knew all kinds of Pokémon GO tricks.

“Thanks, Carlo,” said Ethan, feeling a little bit better.

When his phone buzzed again, he was happy to see Rattata, a ratlike Pokémon—without wings. He caught it quickly, along with the big-eared Nidoran and furry purple Venonat that the lure brought in.

“Is it just me, or are Weedle getting a whole lot sassier?” asked Devin, trying to catch the springy, wormlike Pokémon on her screen.

“That means you’re leveling up,” said Ethan. “It’s a good thing. Just show those little Larrys who’s boss.”

Devin laughed—and finally captured the Pokémon. “Larry” was their Dad’s nickname for one of his Weedle, so now Ethan and Devin called every Weedle they saw Larry.

Eventually, the pink petals stopped pouring down and the crowd at the doughnut shop thinned out. That’s when Dottie hurried over with the survey results.

“The Mankey doughnut wins!” she announced, her gold earrings jingling. “Banana-cream filling it is. I can hardly wait to get started. Come back tomorrow for a sample, okay?”

She rubbed her hands together as she walked back toward the kitchen.

“She seems so happy,” said Gianna, as they all stood up to leave. “And I think I know why. Do you want to hear a secret?”

When everyone leaned forward, she said in a hushed voice, “Dottie and Ivan are dating.”

“What?” Ethan shrunk backward. “But he’s her competition!”

Ivan was the owner of an ice cream store across town that had almost run Dottie right out of business. Plus, his shop was a rival Pokémon gym. It belonged to Team Valor.

Gianna shrugged. “Who cares? Love is love, I guess.”

“And anyway, Dottie’s business is doing great,” said Devin. “She’s even making a Mankey doughnut. You can’t do that with ice cream.”

Carlo cocked his head. “You could make a Mankey banana split, though.”

Gianna playfully punched her brother’s shoulder. “Don’t you dare give Ivan ideas!” she said. “You steer clear of that ice cream shop. We’re on Team Dottie, remember?”

He laughed. “I remember.”

“Yeah, we fought hard for this gym,” said Ethan, following Carlo out the door. “And if anything ever happens to it, we’re stuck training over there.”

He pointed to the library across the street. It was a Team Mystic gym, too. But the librarian, Mrs. Applegate, didn’t allow kids to play Pokémon GO anywhere near the building. So even though Ethan had managed to leave a Spearow in that gym, he could never train it!

Carlo faked a shudder. “You’re right. Let’s never let anything happen to Dottie’s Doughnuts,” he said. “Team Dottie it is. Catch you all later!” He waved and took off toward the hardware store, where he was helping out this summer.

While Gianna unlocked her bike from the caterpillar-shaped rack in front of the shop, Ethan stood next to her and tapped his phone screen. The bike rack was also a PokéStop. He spun the Photo Disc and collected two Poké Balls and an egg.

When he heard Mrs. Applegate calling from across the street, he quickly slid his phone back into his pocket.

How can she bust me for playing? he wondered. I’m not even at the stinking library!

But Mrs. Applegate didn’t have Pokémon on her mind—not at all.

“Have you kids seen Max?” she cried, hurrying into the street without even looking for cars. “My cat got out. He’s missing!”