Following Meowth's Footprints Read online

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!

  CHAPTER 4

  “One hour,” said Mom, checking the sun’s position in the sky. “No later than that, or Dad and I will come looking for you.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said Ethan. But he could barely wait for the car to come to a stop in the driveway so that they could hop out.

  The Pheasant Ranch Nature Preserve was just a few blocks from their house. So as soon as they got home, he, Devin, and Gianna took off running down the street. When a few posters fluttered out of Devin’s hands, she hollered at Ethan to slow down already. He tried to. But he couldn’t wait to get to the trailhead!

  “Tape a poster to the Little Library,” said Gianna as they passed a wooden box on a post. The Little Library was a place for neighbors to share books. Plus, it was a PokéStop. So while Devin taped a cat poster to the front door of the library, Ethan spun the Photo Disc and collected a few Poké Balls. He sure needed them, after his recent run-in with the Zubat.

  When they reached the trailhead to Pheasant Ranch, which was also a PokéStop, he collected a few more. Then he heard a familiar voice that made his skin crawl.

  “What are you guys doing?”

  It was Brayden the Great, a neighbor who wasn’t exactly a friend. He and his Team Valor friends had tried to take over the gym at Dottie’s Doughnuts just a few weeks ago. Ethan had been so mad at him!

  We won the gym back, Ethan reminded himself. So I should at least try to be nicer to Brayden now. But it was so hard with a kid who bragged about every Pokémon he caught—and everything his parents bought him. In fact, he was zooming down the street right now on what looked like a brand-new scooter.

  “We’re just searching for Pokémon,” Ethan said, pasting on a smile.

  “And we’re searching for Mrs. Applegate’s lost cat, Max,” said Devin, holding up a poster.

  Great, thought Ethan. Now Brayden is going to want to look for Max with us.

  But he just took a long look at the poster and shrugged his shoulders. “Haven’t seen him. But if you spot any rare Pokémon while you’re out looking, make sure to let me know.”

  “Yeah,” said Ethan, as Brayden buzzed away. “We’ll be sure … not to.” He waited until the scooter was out of sight before following the girls onto the trail.

  Devin stopped for a second to study her phone. “Okay, I’ll keep an eye out for Meowth whi
le we look for Max,” she said, checking her tracking feature.

  “Meowth? I’m holding out for the legendary Mewtwo, or Mew,” said Ethan. Why not aim high?

  Gianna seemed to have something else in mind. As she swatted at a pesky fly, she said, “I’ll bet there are a lot of Bug-type Pokémon out here. My favorite!”

  But the first Pokémon they found was Vulpix. “Oh, it’s so cute,” said Devin, holding up her phone. “It looks like a little fox. Kind of like Eevee. I have to take a picture.”

  Even Ethan had to admit, Vulpix was pretty cute. He captured it easily and then walked on.

  As they got deeper into the woods, the trail suddenly felt squishy under Ethan’s feet. Had it rained recently? He studied the ground. “Remember to look up in the trees,” he told the girls. “But look down sometimes, too. If Max is out here, maybe he left a trail of paw prints.”

  “Good idea,” said Gianna.

  “Speaking of footprints,” said Devin, “I think Meowth just popped up in my tracker. Is this an outline of Meowth?”

  “Yeah, that’s him, I think,” said Ethan, studying the gray outline. “Or maybe it’s Mew. Wouldn’t it be great if we found Max and Mew out here?”

  He nearly ran into Gianna, who had dropped low to study the ground. “This might sound crazy,” she said, “but I think I just found cat prints. Take a look.”

  Ethan stepped around her, careful not to smear the prints.

  Devin hurried over, too. “Hey, those do look like cat prints!” she said.

  “Or coyote tracks,” said Ethan. He immediately regretted it.

  “There are coyotes out here?” said Devin, glancing over her shoulder. “How do you know?”

  “Dad told me once,” said Ethan. “But they won’t bother us. Don’t worry.”

  Devin’s green eyes widened. “I’m not worried about us,” she countered. “I’m worried about Max.”

  Oh, thought Ethan. Right.

  “If you’re worried about Max, let’s follow these paw prints,” said Gianna. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and find him.”

  So they set off tracking the prints, which very quickly took them off the trail.

  “We should stick to the main path,” said Ethan, even though he was dying to know where the prints led.

  Devin sighed. “We’ve come this far. Can’t we go just a little farther? Max needs us! What if he gets attacked by a coyote?” As the sun sank behind a tree, she shivered.

  Ethan checked the time. “We only have half an hour left,” he said. “How about if we follow the trail for ten minutes? Then we have to hurry back.”

  Devin agreed, and Gianna was already racing off into the bushes.

  The ground got softer and softer beneath their feet, which made tracking the prints easy. Until they disappeared into a tuft of mossy grass.

  “Where’d he go next?” asked Gianna, looking up.

  “Maybe toward those trees,” said Devin, pointing ahead. “Let’s go see.”

  As they wandered through the dense thicket of trees, she called softly for the cat. “Here, Maxie. Here, kitty, kitty.”

  “We’re running out of trees,” said Gianna eventually. “This looks kind of like a marsh.”

  As Ethan felt wetness seep into his shoes, he jumped backward. “I think it is a marsh. Let’s go back.”

  He turned to lead the way. He pushed through the bushes and trees, waiting for the moment when they’d pop out and find the trail again. But that moment didn’t come.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” Devin finally asked.

  Ethan wanted to lie to her, but the truth was, he was starting to get nervous. “Let me check my GPS,” he said, pulling out his phone.

  When he saw the words “No Signal,” his nervousness turned into full-blown panic. “Do either of you have a signal?” he asked.

  Devin’s voice sounded strained when she said, “Nope.”

  “I do!” said Gianna. “Wait, no, it’s gone. Let’s keep walking until I get it back.”

  Ethan spun in a slow circle. “I don’t even know which way to go,” he admitted. “And is it just me, or is it getting dark?”

  As they all looked up at the sky, they heard a faint yipping sound in the distance.

  Devin gripped Ethan’s arm. “Is that … a coyote?”

  CHAPTER 5

  Ethan’s heart was in his throat. But he took a deep breath and tried to stay calm for his little sister’s sake.

  “It’s not a coyote,” he said, sounding more sure than he actually felt. “It’s probably Brayden’s golden retriever. Now, let’s think for a second. Which way is the sun setting?”

  Devin chewed her bottom lip and looked up. “That way.” She pointed to the left.

  “So that’s west,” said Ethan. “The sun sets in the west.” He wasn’t sure what to do with that information, but at least it was a start.

  “Good,” said Gianna. “Our neighborhood is west of Pheasant Ranch, isn’t it? At least I think it is. Let me check my phone. Oh, right—no signal. Wait … I think I’ve got one now!”

  She ran up ahead, holding her phone toward the sky. “Yes, a signal!”

  Ethan and Devin raced after her, and finally she was able to pull up her Pokémon GO map.

  “So this green blob is the conservancy, and the blue must be the marsh we nearly walked into. There’s a bunch of PokéStops—that must be our neighborhood. Follow me.”

  They pushed through the thicket until finally, finally, they were back on the actual trail. Ethan felt relief wash over his body like rain.

  When they heard the sound of bike tires coming toward them, he felt even better.

  The boy in the yellow T-shirt riding the bike looked familiar. “Wyatt?” said Ethan. He hadn’t seen Wyatt since school ended. He looked a lot more tan—and when he hopped off his bike, he seemed like he’d grown an inch or two.

  “Hey, what are you guys doing way out here?” asked Wyatt, wheeling his bike toward them.

  “Tracking paw prints,” said Gianna, pointing toward the ground.

  “You’re tracking him, too?” said Wyatt. “I’ve been looking for that little guy all night. Team Instinct—I mean, my friends and I—are forming a big search party tomorrow. You can join us if you want.”

  “Really?” said Ethan. “Um, okay. After church, Mom might let us.”

  “Good! See you later, then.” Wyatt hopped back on his bike and pedaled off.

  “So much for this being a Team Mystic mystery,” said Ethan as Wyatt disappeared around a bend in the trail.

  “That’s okay,” Gianna said brightly. “Team Instinct is alright.”

  “Yeah, and the more people looking for Max, the better,” added Devin.

  “True,” said Ethan. When his phone buzzed, he glanced down and was surprised to see a yellow tower pop up.

  “Hey, there’s a gym nearby! Looks like Team Instinct has control of it. Too bad there’s no time for a battle right now.”

  “Maybe tomorrow?” said Gianna. She loved a good Pokémon battle, too.

  “Tomorrow,” said Ethan. “Let’s get going.”

  On the way home from church, Dad drove by the library so that Ethan and Devin could check in on Mrs. Applegate. She looked like she hadn’t slept a wink, which meant that Max was still missing—they knew it before she even said so.

  “We’ll find him soon,” said Devin. “I have a good feeling about it!”

  “I hope so, sweetie,” said Mrs. Applegate, taking a big sip from her coffee mug. “My house—and this big old library—sure feel empty without him.”

  After Ethan and Devin piled back into the car, Dad drove around the block to head home, which led them by a church with an interesting sign out front.

  “Hey, look,” he said, slowing down to read the sign. “It says POKÉSTOP HERE. COME ONE, COME ALL. It’s a PokéStop church! Maybe next Sunday, we could—”

  “Don’t even think about it,” said Mom. “Keep driving, mister.”

  In the backseat,
Ethan smothered a smile. Dad was into Pokémon GO as much as he and Devin were, but Mom had a way of squashing his enthusiasm like a bug.

  Poor Dad, thought Ethan. Too bad he can’t come to the nature preserve with us this afternoon.

  But as he checked the clouds outside the car window, he started to wonder if the whole adventure was going to get rained out.

  By the time they got home from church, there were droplets of water starting to splat on the car windows.

  “You two should probably stay out of the rain,” said Mom, carrying her purse into the house.

  “It’s just misting!” said Ethan, holding out his hands. A really wet mist, he decided, wiping his hands on his pants.

  “Bring your umbrellas,” said Mom. “And wear your rain boots.”

  Devin heaved a deep sigh. “It’s impossible to catch Pokémon when you’re carrying an umbrella,” she said, pushing past Ethan to get into the house first.

  But Ethan was glad they got to go at all.

  By the time they met Gianna at the trailhead, the sun was peeking out from behind a cloud. So there was hope.

  There were also a lot of kids wearing yellow T-shirts poking around the trail. Team Instinct? wondered Ethan. Wow, these kids are organized. Matching T-shirts and everything.

  Wyatt sped by on his bike, barely slowing down to talk. “I spotted some tracks by the bridge,” he said. “Come check them out!”

  With that, he was gone again.

  “Is the bridge over by where we were last night?” asked Devin, pausing to think.

  “Yup,” said Ethan. “It’s by the Team Instinct gym, too.” He could hardly wait to try his luck against the rival gym. “Let’s run!”

  That was easier said than done in rain boots. But they made it to the bridge pretty quickly. Ethan only wiped out in the mud once—and managed to pass it off as an intentional slide.

  A whole crowd of Team Instinct kids were gathered by the bridge, and they were all looking down.

  “Did you find paw prints?” asked Devin, pushing her way through the crowd.

  “We sure did,” said a girl with a long brown ponytail. “Look—right here.” She pointed to the line of muddy tracks crossing the bridge.