CHAPTER 12

By the time Devin showed up, Ethan was grinning from ear to ear. Maybe it was capturing Brayden the Zubat. Or maybe it was the sugar rush from his second Mankey.

“What took you so long?” he asked.

She blew the hair out of her face. “I was helping Mrs. Applegate with a project. I figure if we can’t find her cat, maybe there are other ways we can help her out at the library.”

“Really?” said Ethan. He didn’t like the way she used the word we in that sentence. He was curious about this “project,” but if he asked too many questions, he might get roped into helping out, too. “So what did Mrs. Applegate say about the cat in your photo?” he asked instead.

“You were right. It wasn’t Max—not even close. So I need a doughnut with sprinkles, and I need it fast.” Her eyes scanned the shop for Dottie.

“The Mankey was pretty good,” said Ethan. “At least, the part that made it into my mouth instead of my lap. Hey, have we caught any Mankey yet?”

“I don’t think so,” said Devin. “Where would we even find them here in Newville? In Pheasant Ranch? I think monkeys live in trees.” She waved her hand to flag down Dottie.

“Maybe,” he said. Then he had another thought. “How about in playgrounds? Maybe Mankey live in parks and playgrounds—places that have monkey bars.”

“You mean Mankey bars?” Devin joked.

Ethan just shook his head. Sometimes Devin’s jokes were as bad as Dad’s.

“What do you think?” he said. “Do you want to take a break from cat hunting today and hit a couple of parks with me to look for Mankey?”

“Sure. Why not?” When Dottie came over, Devin asked if she could please order a doughnut with sprinkles for the road.

“Sounds serious,” said Dottie, sliding her pencil behind her ear. “One sprinkled doughnut, one paper bag. Coming right up.” She winked and took Ethan’s empty plate.

Ten minutes later, they were biking toward the park. As Ethan rode behind Devin, he saw purple sprinkles bouncing off her tires. She was leaving a little trail of them.

“If you were a lost cat, you’d be easy to track,” he joked.

But she was too into her doughnut to even hear him.

Ethan made sure they stopped at every PokéStop between the doughnut shop and the park. But by the time they rode through the park gates and pulled into the bike rack, he’d only collected nine Poké Balls.

He quickly popped an egg into an incubator, just for backup. If he couldn’t catch a lot of Pokémon today, maybe he could hatch some.

Then he showed Devin how low he was on Poké Balls. “I wish I could borrow some from you,” he said. He knew Devin was a good saver. She always had a good supply of Poké Balls, not to mention a full piggy bank on her desk in her bedroom.

“Can you buy some with your Defender bonus?” she asked.

“Nah,” he confessed. “I already blew that on more incense and a Lucky Egg. What if I run into a Meowth today and don’t have enough ammunition to catch him?”

“Maybe you could beam him in the head with your Lucky Egg,” she joked. Then she glanced over her shoulder and added, “Anyway, I’m pretty sure you’re going to run into something else first.”

Ethan heard the low buzzing noise, too, growing louder and closer. Brayden was coming on his stupid scooter. “Hide!” said Ethan. “Quick!”

Devin looked around. “Where? Behind the curly slide?”

“Good idea,” said Ethan. Then he realized she was kidding. While he dove for cover, Devin stood perfectly still, facing Brayden head-on.

“What are you doing here?” asked Brayden as he buzzed to a stop on the sidewalk.

“What’s it to you?” asked Devin.

Ooh, thought Ethan. She’s in sassy mode. Good!

“Are you still mad about that cat thing?” asked Brayden. “Is that why your brother is hiding behind the curly slide?”

Oof. Busted.

Still, Ethan stayed hidden, pretending to search the grass for Weedle and Caterpie. He wished he could press the run button and make Brayden go away. But he wouldn’t go away. He’d just hang around like an annoying Zubat, waiting for me to come back.

Brayden finally did leave, but it took forever. Ethan’s legs were sore from squatting when Devin came over to get him out of hiding.

“He sure wants to hang out with you,” she said.

“What do you mean?” he asked, wiping the grass off his knees. “He wants to annoy me, that’s all.”

She shook her head. “I think he wants to hang out with you. You used to be friends, remember?”

That seems like a long time ago, thought Ethan. And he didn’t really want to talk about Brayden right now. “C’mon,” he said. “Let’s go check out the Mankey bars.”

The search for Mankey at the park turned up nothing, but it was fun to be out with Devin and not thinking about cats. Ethan lifted his face to the breeze as they pedaled down the street. “Do you want to hit the school playground next?” he asked.

“Sure,” said Devin. “Race you there!”

“You’re on!”

Ethan had to admit it—Devin was pretty fast for an eight-year-old. He had to pedal his hardest and ignore every PokéStop they passed to beat her. There wasn’t time to stop, and like Mom sometimes said, “Don’t Pokémon GO while you pedal.” Ethan tried not to think about all the Poké Balls and Razz Berries he was missing out on!

He pulled into the school playground just seconds before Devin, and then flopped down on the grass, laughing. “That was some serious exercise. Mom would be proud of us.”

“Yeah,” said Devin, breathing hard. “But there’s a slight problem.”

“What?” Ethan sat up.

Then he heard the buzzing sound. “Oh, man. He followed us here?”

Devin nodded. “We flew by him really fast a couple of blocks ago. He must think we’re hot on the trail of a rare Pokémon.”

Figures, thought Ethan. Old Brayden the Zubat can’t stand being left out of anything. He just follows us around, yapping and flapping his wings.

“So, what are you going to hide behind this time?” asked Devin. “The water fountain?”

Ethan knew she was kidding. But he also knew it was time to stop hiding.

You could run, Carlo had said about the Zubats. But I think you should just face ’em head-on.

So Ethan stood up and walked to the curb just as Brayden pulled up.

“What are you guys hunting for?” Brayden came right out and asked.

“Mankey,” said Ethan. “We’re hunting for Mankey.” He decided to try honesty this time. After all, they hadn’t found any yet. And even if they did, maybe Brayden would just capture one and then be on his way.

“Here? I don’t believe you,” said Brayden. “Monkeys live in trees, not in school playgrounds. I’ll bet you’re looking for Meowth like you were in the cemetery. Did you see him somewhere?” He looked toward Devin as if she were going to pull Meowth up on her phone and tell him exactly where to find the Pokémon.

“Cats live in trees too, Einstein,” Ethan shot back. “So why don’t you go find some. Why don’t you just get lost.”

His words came out sounding harsh. But Brayden deserves it. Doesn’t he? thought Ethan.

Brayden shrugged. “Whatever.” He turned his scooter around and performed a fancy little burnout.

He’s probably been practicing that move for days, thought Ethan with a smirk. Just waiting to show it off.

But Brayden’s next move wasn’t so impressive. He hit a patch of gravel, slid sideways, and flew right off his scooter.

He squealed as he flew through the air.

Then he hit the ground with a thud.