CHAPTER FIVE

As Marco walked toward the Dining Hall, he held his breath. He couldn’t even bring himself to glance at Logan, who trudged along beside him. Officer Jenny walked a few feet behind, not saying a word.

The stony silence was almost unbearable. Is she going to punish us? wondered Marco. I wish she’d just do it already!

But she didn’t. When they reached the entrance to the Dining Hall, Officer Jenny put a hand on each boy’s shoulder and leaned over to say just five words. “Don’t let that happen again.”

“Yes, ma’am,” whispered Marco. But as soon as she was gone, he exhaled loudly, dropping onto the bench of a picnic table.

“That was a close one,” said Logan, his face pale.

“Too close,” said Marco. “We almost lost points. I don’t even think I can eat now.”

“Me, neither,” said Nisha. “Besides, there’s no time—I have to go make that second pair of Night Goggles. See you at the lake!” She was gone in a flash, before Marco could even apologize.

But Maddy was still there. “I told you guys about the whistle,” she said, her hands on her hips.

“I know,” said Marco sadly. “I’m sorry—we should have listened to you.”

When Logan finally apologized, too, Maddy perked back up. “It’s pizza day! Let’s get in line.”

Marco shook his head. “I’m not hungry. I’ll just meet you at the lake.” What he really wanted to do was go back to his cabin and crawl under the covers. But in half an hour, we have to start orienteering all over again, he reminded himself. Ready or not.

Maddy sat on the side of the pier, swinging her legs above the water. “I get seasick,” she said again. “I can’t help it. So I’m just going to stay here.”

Logan groaned. “You couldn’t have told us about this seasickness stuff earlier?” he asked, buckling his life vest. “Maybe Nurse Joy could have given you some medicine or something.”

Maddy shrugged. “I didn’t know it would be so wavy!” she said, pointing at the wind rippling across the water.

Marco could tell her mind was made up. Maddy was as stubborn as any of them—sometimes more. Will I be that strong if I have to tell my teammates that I can’t do the zip line? he wondered. He hoped so, but his palms got sweaty just thinking about it.

“It’s okay,” Nisha told Maddy. “The three of us can go out in a canoe, and you can stay on the pier. But first, you should try out my new invention!” She pulled something from her backpack that looked like a snorkel.

Maddy shrunk backward. “I don’t … really like to snorkel,” she said.

“It’s not a snorkel,” said Nisha. “It’s a Snorkel Stick—like a Selfie Stick. You put the camera on it so you can take video underwater! I’ll show you how it works.”

Logan handed her the camera, and she screwed it onto a piece of black plastic attached to the Snorkel Stick.

“Is that part of a tripod?” Marco asked, pointing to the black thing.

“Yup,” said Nisha. “From home. I knew it would come in handy.” Then she handed the Snorkel Stick to Maddy. “I set up the camera to take a video, so you can dunk it under the water. But be careful. Don’t let go!”

“I won’t,” Maddy promised. She carefully stretched out on her stomach, holding the purple stick. Then she lowered the camera over the edge of the pier. “Like this?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Nisha. “Spin it in a slow circle so you get a video of everything that’s under there.”

Maddy did, sticking her tongue out in concentration as she slowly spun the stick.

Marco wondered what she’d find under the water, but he could almost hear the ticking of the stopwatch around his neck. Most of the other teams were already by the boathouse, where Officer Jenny was helping them get into canoes.

“We ran out of time in the woods,” Marco reminded his friends. “We need to go get our canoe!”

“Okay, Maddy, bring it back up,” said Nisha.

When Maddy did, Nisha unscrewed the camera from the Snorkel Stick and replayed the video. Marco watched the screen out of the corner of his eye, keeping the other eye on the canoes that were starting to drift past.

The video didn’t show much. Something that looked like seaweed swirled round and round in the green water near the posts of the pier. Then Marco spotted a flash of color—something red and white.

“Wait, was that a Poké Ball?” Logan asked. “Go back!”

“It could have been a fishing bobber,” said Marco.

“It wasn’t,” said Logan. “It was a Poké Ball. I’ll bet it’s on the other side of the pier!” He flopped onto his stomach and stuck his head below the pier, as if he were looking under his bed again.

“Here it is! Come see!”

Just below Logan, tacked to the wooden pier, was a laminated poster of a Pokémon. And below that, a half-submerged Poké Ball bobbed in the water.

Nisha handed Logan the camera so he could snap a photo, upside-down.

“Horsea!” Maddy cried when she saw the picture, which looked like a tiny blue seahorse. “We found Horsea!”

“Shh! Not so loud!” Nisha whispered.

But it was too late.

A taunting voice rang out across the water. “Whatcha got there?”

Stella drifted toward them in her canoe, perched like a queen on her throne. Claire sat in front, but she glanced away as soon as Marco met her eyes.

“Looks like you found Horsea,” said Stella, gesturing toward the poster that Logan didn’t have time to hide. “And now I did, too.” She raised her camera and snapped a picture.

“See ya later, losers,” she sneered as the canoe pulled away. Marco heard her barking orders to Claire, who seemed to be doing all the paddling.

“What a cheater!” cried Logan, his hands balled into fists.

Marco almost reminded him that they had done the same thing to Team Fennekin, back in the woods. But Logan was already racing down the pier toward shore. “Let’s get her!” he cried.

Marco ran after Logan, feeling the pier wobble beneath him with each step. Then he was on dry ground, hurrying toward an empty canoe.

Officer Jenny, wearing a blue life vest over her swimsuit and a sun visor instead of her usual police cap, lifted one end of the aluminum canoe and dragged it toward the water. “Where’s the last member of your team?” she asked.

“Maddy’s not coming. She gets seasick,” Nisha explained in one winded breath.

Marco glanced over his shoulder and saw that Maddy had flopped back down onto the pier, looking like a melted Poké Puff left out in the rain. He sighed, knowing just how she felt.

“I see,” said Officer Jenny. “Well, this canoe is big enough for the three of you. Just don’t stand up or rock the boat. And don’t make Professor Birch blow his whistle.” She gestured toward the lifeguard chair.

“We … won’t,” said Marco, his voice cracking. He’d had enough whistle-blowing for one day.

“But there are only two seats!” Logan noticed as he carefully stepped into the boat.

“You and Nisha can have them,” Marco said quickly. “I’ll sit in the middle.” So I don’t have to paddle, he thought. Because after what had happened in the woods, he didn’t want to be in charge anymore. We’ll be better off with someone else leading the way.

“You’ll be on map duty then,” said Nisha, handing him the new orienteering map. This one was mostly blue, with an outline of greens, blacks, and browns.

Then Officer Jenny helped them push off from shore. Logan sat at the rear of the boat, which meant he got to steer. Nisha took the front. And Marco hung out in the middle, trying to use his map and compass to steer the team toward another Pokémon. So much for not leading the way, he thought with a sigh.

“Where’s Stella?” asked Logan from behind. “Oh, I see her! Let’s go.” He began paddling furiously toward a canoe in the distance.

“No!” Nisha scolded, dragging her paddle in the water like a brake. “We’re supposed to hunt for Pokémon—not Team Fennekin. Where should we go, Marco?”

He studied the map, looking for Pokémon. Wingull was hidden somewhere in the grass near shore. Goldeen was back toward the boathouse. And Tentacool was… .

A whoop from the swimming raft in the middle of the lake told him exactly where Tentacool was.

“That way!” Logan shouted, pointing toward the cluster of Team Froakie T-shirts surrounding the raft. He switched his paddle to the left side of the boat, sending a trickle of cold water down Marco’s back.

Marco yelped and scooted up onto his knees.

“Don’t stand up!” Nisha warned over her shoulder. “You heard what Officer Jenny said.”

“Okay, okay,” he said, wiping the water from the back of his neck. “Look for a Pokémon that looks like a blue jellyfish!” he reminded his friends.

“There!” cried Nisha, pointing with her paddle.

A poster of Tentacool was tacked to the side of the raft, rippling in the wind. “Quick, get a picture!” said Marco.

Logan fished the camera out of his pocket and leaned over the side of the canoe, making it tip toward the water.

“Don’t rock the boat!” Nisha shrieked, gripping the sides of the boat with her hands. “You’re making me nervous.”

Then Marco saw something that made him nervous: two girls in fox-orange T-shirts paddling straight toward the canoe.

Logan saw them, too. “No way,” he said. “Team Fennekin’s not getting a picture of this Pokémon.”

As soon as Stella and Claire were closer—close enough for Marco to see the sneer on Stella’s face—Logan launched into action. He paddled the canoe forward a few feet, right in between Stella’s canoe and the Tentacool poster.

Then he pointed at Claire. “Don’t look now,” he called in a panicked voice, “but Tentacool’s in your boat! He’s alive! Get out! Get out!”

Claire jumped and spun around in the boat, which made Stella snort.

“You fell for that?” she said, giving Claire a withering look. Then she reached her hand over the side of the boat and scooped up some water, preparing to attack Logan.

“Stella, get your hand out of the water—NOW!” he cried. “There’s a fin. Look! There it is! Shark! It’s Sharpedo!”

He stood up and pointed at the rippling water near Stella’s hand.

“Don’t. Stand. Up!” Nisha cried.

Too late.

Marco felt the boat flip. For a moment, he hung suspended in the air—as if his harness had just broken away from a zip line, and he was about to fall down, down, down… .

He hit the water with a sharp slap.

And then he couldn’t breathe.