CHAPTER 3

By dinnertime, Devin had made a tall stack of posters. She had used Mrs. Applegate’s photo of Max, but Ethan was happy to see that she’d added something else: an image of the catlike Pokémon Meowth in the corner. That would grab people’s attention—especially if they hung the sign on PokéStops.

“Can we hang up the signs during our walk tonight?” asked Ethan while they ate.

Thanks to Pokémon GO, his family took a walk every night after dinner. While Ethan and Devin hunted for Pokémon, Mom tried to hatch Pokémon eggs and log steps toward her gold Jogger medal.

And Dad? Mostly he wandered around bumping into things. Ethan glanced across the table at the bruise on Dad’s forehead. The poor guy had walked into a maple tree just last night, hunting for a hard-to-spot Spearow.

Mom had upped the stakes, though. She’d been leading them on walks through new parts of town so that they could explore different PokéStops instead of the same old, same old. Then, after the walk, she would say, “Tell me something new that you learned from Pokémon GO today.”

Some nights Ethan had to work really hard to answer that question.

I guess she doesn’t want our brains to turn to mush this summer, he thought as he ate a spoonful of peas.

“Sure, we can hang the posters,” she said. “It’s sweet that you two are helping Mrs. Applegate find her cat.”

“Well, we’re going to try,” said Ethan. “No promises.”

“Hey, can we walk around the school playground tonight?” asked Devin. “It’s kind of between the library and Mrs. Applegate’s house. Maybe Max started walking back toward his own neighborhood.”

Dad helped himself to another piece of chicken. “Sounds smart,” he said. “If I were a cat, that’s what I’d do.”

“And can Gia come, too?” asked Devin.

Mom nodded, but that was no surprise. Gianna came with them on their walks almost every night, and Devin shared her phone with her.

After dinner, everyone piled into the car. On the way to Newville Elementary, they stopped to pick up Gianna, who was wearing her lucky Pokémon-hunting cap. It had two antennae on top, like some of her favorite Bug-type Pokémon.

The backseat felt crowded now, and the antennae of Gia’s cap kept bopping Ethan in the forehead. “Gia, can you please control your cap?” he said, only half-kidding as he rubbed his head.

“Oh, sorry!” she said. She laughed and pulled off the cap, resting it safely in her lap.

Finally, they pulled into the school parking lot.

It’s weird to be here during the summer, thought Ethan as he stepped out of the car. It seemed so quiet without kids buzzing around the red-brick building. And the playground was completely empty.

“Where do you think the PokéStops are?” asked Devin, scanning her phone.

“How should I know?” said Ethan. “Look for the blue squares.”

“Let’s walk around the basketball courts first,” said Mom. “Then we can come back and search the playground.” She was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, ready to log some steps.

As they walked, Ethan kept an eye out for Max. Devin was scanning the blacktop, too. He even saw her ignore her vibrating phone while tracking what turned out to be a squirrel in a bush.

When Ethan spotted a Zubat on his phone, his search for Max came to a squeaking, squealing halt.

“Really?” he wanted to holler at the Zubat. “At a time like this?”

He sighed and sat down on a bench. When his phone vibrated again, he scolded the Weedle that popped up. “Don’t waste my time, Larry. I’ve got a Zubat to take down.”

Then he tried his best to capture the winged Pokémon. He did what Gianna said—he angled his phone until the Zubat was dead center. Then he took the straightest swipe he could with that Poké Ball.

But once again, it seemed to go right through the Zubat. What’s up with that? Ethan wanted to scream.

The Zubat taunted him, screeching like a prehistoric cockroach.

About twenty more Poké Balls in, the Zubat finally got sucked into a ball. But only for a second.

When it sprang back out again, Ethan groaned. “So you want to play that way, huh? Fine. I don’t have time for this.”

Then he did something he had never done before. He pressed the run button in the upper left-hand corner of his screen, and he walked away from the Zubat—feeling like a total loser.

Focus on Max, Ethan reminded himself.

It helped when Dad suddenly hollered, “Hey, I found a PokéStop!” He was standing in front of a statue of a red fox, the school mascot.

As Ethan stepped toward it, the blue square on his phone turned into a circle. He spun the Photo Disc and collected two Poké Balls and a Revive.

Devin, meanwhile, slid a poster out of her backpack and taped it to the base of the statue. “Do you think it’ll stay?” she asked Ethan.

“Maybe with a few more pieces of tape,” he said.

“Wait!” said Mom, jogging over. “Did you read the plaque at the bottom? Try to learn something before you cover it up with a cat poster.”

Ethan sighed and read it out loud. HOME OF THE NEWVILLE RED FOXES SINCE 1968.

Mom nodded, satisfied. Then they walked on.

“Any sign of Max?” Devin asked Ethan.

He shook his head. “I managed to run away from a Zubat, though. Have I mentioned how much I hate Zubat?”

Devin giggled. “Me, too. Maybe we should make T-shirts and start an ‘I Hate Zubat’ club. But Gia can’t join. She’s too good at catching them.” She jogged ahead to catch up with Gianna.

After a half hour, they had taped posters to a few more PokéStops, including the school sign near the front entrance and a water fountain.

“With all these cat posters, it looks more like MEWville Elementary than Newville Elementary,” said Dad, chuckling.

“Good one, Dad!” said Ethan. He liked to support Dad’s good jokes, since there were way too many bad ones.

Devin giggled, but Gianna stopped walking and tapped her chin thoughtfully. “That gives me an idea. When you’re trying to find a cat, you have to think like a cat—or at least like a feline Pokémon. Where would Meowth be hiding?”

“Ooh, I know. Let me check my tracker,” said Devin. She tapped the bottom right corner of her phone, where pictures and outlines of all the nearby Pokémon showed up. “Nope. No Meowths around here right now.”

“Ouch!”

Everyone turned toward Dad, who had just stubbed his toe on the base of a flagpole.

“Remember to look up while you walk, dear,” said Mom. “And maybe you should wear more sensible shoes next time.”

Dad always wore his sandals for walks. With socks, Ethan thought, and he groaned inside. Not exactly a fashion statement.

But something Mom had said gave Ethan an idea. Remember to look up, she’d said. So he glanced up the flagpole. And started to think like a cat.

“Cats climb trees,” he said out loud.

Gianna nodded. “They sure do. So where can we find a bunch of trees?”

Ethan and Devin swapped glances. “The nature preserve!” they both said.

Then they raced toward the car. This night is starting to get a whole lot more interesting, thought Ethan. We’re going to find that cat yet!