CHAPTER 11

“We should show Mrs. Applegate the photo of the cat anyway,” said Devin. “Just in case it was Max!”

“It wasn’t Max. It was a mean old stray that Brayden was trying to trick us into thinking was Max.” Ethan wondered how many times he was going to have to tell Devin that. The girl never seemed to give up hope.

She studied the picture on her phone one more time. “I don’t care what you think,” she said. “I’m going to show Mrs. Applegate, just in case.”

“Fine,” he said. “But I’m not going with you into the library when you do.”

“Fine, Krabby. Do what you want.”

It was Tuesday morning, and Ethan and Devin had been fighting like six-year-olds ever since their sleepover last night at Carlo and Gianna’s. Ethan knew he wasn’t really mad at Devin. He was just so mad at Brayden, he didn’t know what to do with himself.

Yes, you do, the voice in his head argued. You need to take a break from this missing-cat thing. You need to go to Dottie’s, eat a couple of doughnuts, and fight a few battles.

So that’s what he did—while Devin was across the street at the library.

At least, he went to Dottie’s planning to battle. He sat down in his favorite booth at Dottie’s and pulled out his phone. He tapped on the blue Team Mystic gym, and he prepared Raticate for battle.

“Power up, little buddy,” he said, making sure the Pokémon was healthy. Then he flagged down Dottie for a doughnut. As a Trainer, he needed to power up, too.

“One Mankey, please,” he said. “And a tall glass of chocolate milk.”

“Coming right up!” said Dottie with a smile.

But while he was waiting for his doughnut, Ethan’s phone buzzed. He spun his map to find the nearby Pokéman, and grimaced when he saw a pair of dark, flapping wings.

“Bring it on, Zubat,” he muttered under his breath. “Bring. It. On.”

He started firing Poké Balls at the screeching, fluttering, batlike Pokémon. He shot them off rapid fire. The Zubat squeaked and squawked and dodged every ball, but Ethan didn’t let up. He fired more.

After a while, he didn’t even wait until the yellow circle around the bat had shrunk. He just flung more Poké Balls, pinging them off the bat’s head and slinging them into the corners of the screen.

When the app seemed to freeze up, he shook his phone. He tapped the screen, trying to get another Poké Ball.

And then he saw the message.

“No more Poké Balls.”

He stared at it in disbelief.

Then he dropped his head to the table.

When Ethan felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned his face just far enough to see. It wasn’t Dottie holding out the Mankey on a plate. It was Carlo.

Ethan sat straight up. “When did you get here?” he asked.

“Just in time to see you go nutso on Zubat,” said Carlo. “Dottie was afraid to come over, so she sent me instead. Doughnut?” He grinned and held out the plate. The he slid into the booth across from Ethan.

Ethan took a bite of the Mankey, and instantly felt a giant blob of banana-cream filling fall into his lap. Perfect.

Carlo waited until Ethan had wiped his shorts clean. Then he asked, “So what was that all about? Did Zubat do you wrong in a past life or something?”

Ethan couldn’t even smile. “I can’t catch him,” he said. “Just like I can’t find Max. Or Mew. Or Mewtwo. Or even Meowth.” He counted them off on his fingers—five fat failures.

Carlo nodded. “Well, I don’t know if this will make you feel better or worse, but I don’t think anybody has found Mew or Mewtwo. They may not even exist yet.”

“What do you mean?” said Ethan. “They’re in the Pokédex.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think they’re in the real world yet,” said Carlo. “Maybe soon—but not yet. So you’re off the hook on those two.”

Ethan sighed. “So there’s only two cats I can’t find. And a crazy bat I can’t catch.”

“I might be able to help you with Zubat, too,” said Carlo. “Want me to show you a trick?”

He reached for Ethan’s phone and flipped it over, and there was Zubat—fluttering around, waiting for round two.

Ethan grimaced. “Ugh. Why is he still there?”

“Because he wants you to try to capture him, of course. What else does a Zubat have to live for?”

“Can’t I just hit the run button?” Ethan whined.

“You could,” said Carlo. “But Zubat aren’t really that tough, once you get the hang of them. I think you should just face ’em head-on.”

Carlo held the phone toward the window to collect a few Poké Balls from the PokéStop out front. Then he hit Ethan’s items list and grabbed a Razz Berry.

“Okay, back to you,” he said, handing Ethan the phone. “Tap on the Razz Berry to feed it to Zubat.”

Ethan did, even though he didn’t want to. When little hearts popped up around Zubat, he almost gagged.

“Now, this is the most important part,” said Carlo. “Instead of aiming for the center of the yellow circle the way you usually do, aim for the top of it. Sometimes you just need to come at Zubat from a different angle.”

Carlo made it sound so simple, but Ethan was pretty sure it wasn’t. He flung the Poké Ball, and it sailed right over Zubat’s head.

“Not bad,” said Carlo. “Try again, a little lower.”

So Ethan did. When the ball pinged against Zubat’s forehead and swallowed him up, Ethan just about fell out of the booth.

“I did it!” he said.

“Awesome!” said Carlo. “And that Razz Berry will help him stay caught, too.”

Ethan held his breath while the ball wiggled. But it didn’t open back up. Instead, a puff of stars floated up around the Poké Ball.

“You caught your first Zubat,” said Carlo, giving Ethan a high-five. “Now you should give that annoying pest a nickname. Make it something good.”

Ethan stared out the window, thinking of the most annoying name he could come up with.

Brayden.

He smiled and tapped the pencil next to the Zubat.

When Carlo saw what Ethan was entering, he chuckled. “Brayden’s not so tough, either,” he said. “You just have to figure out a way to deal with him, like you did with Zubat today.”

Ethan nodded. Carlo’s a pretty smart guy, he thought. Brayden, on the other hand? He’s just an annoying little Zubat.