Catching the Jigglypuff Thief Read online

  Dottie’s Doughnuts was a Level-Two gym, which meant there were two trainers defending it. The first one was a girl Ethan didn’t know: BatGirl16, with a Zubat by her side. But when Ethan swiped to the right, he found Carlo. His dark-haired avatar, named Carlozard14, stood proudly next to a Jolteon named “Sparky.” And above the Pokémon, Carlo’s Gym-Leader crown shone bright.

  Someday, thought Ethan, that could be mine! He stared for a moment longer and then chose his most powerful Pokémon for battle. That choice was easy.

  Ethan’s Pidgeotto appeared on screen, ready to fight the Zubat. It was the first time Ethan had seen his trainer name in battle: DogBoy918. He grinned and prepared to attack.

  But Zubat had already struck! It bit Pidgeotto, who squawked and reeled backward.

  Ethan quickly tapped the screen. “Attack, Pidgeotto! What are you waiting for?” He got off one shot, but Zubat came back fighting.

  The battle was halfway over before Ethan even remembered that he could dodge attacks. Swipe left and right, he reminded himself. But it was too late!

  Zubat squealed as it delivered its Special Attack, the Poison Fang. And Pidgeotto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

  Already? thought Ethan, slumping down in his seat. He glanced at the counter to see if the girls had been watching. Luckily, they were deep into their doughnuts—and their conversation with Dottie.

  “So, I have an idea for how you can sell more doughnuts,” said Gianna, who was always coming up with new plans. She wiped powdered sugar off her cheek and said, “How about if you call them Pokémon GO-nuts? You could offer two GO-nuts for the price of one!”

  Dottie looked confused. “GO-nuts?” She hadn’t caught on to the Pokémon GO craze yet, Ethan could tell.

  But Devin was so excited, she nearly dropped her doughnut. Purple sprinkles bounced across the counter. “Here’s another idea,” she said. “What if you bake a special doughnut that looks like a Pokémon? Maybe like a Jigglypuff!” She scrolled to a picture of the Pokémon on her phone to show Dottie.

  “Hmm,” said Dottie, tapping her chin. “With pink frosting and some candy eyes, maybe I could …”

  As Ethan prepared for another battle, he tried to tune out the girls’ voices. You’re not battling Jigglypuff, he reminded himself. You’re battling Zubat. He’d waited so long for this chance. He had to focus!

  First, he had to heal his Pidgeotto, whose hit points had dropped way down. Good thing I have a Potion, thought Ethan, hitting the “Items” button.

  After healing his favorite Pokémon, he started a new battle. This time, Ethan remembered to dodge Zubat’s first attack. Pidgeotto got off a strike or two and then dodged another bite, flapping its powerful wings.

  Take that, you ugly vampire! thought Ethan, madly tapping the screen.

  Finally, finally, Zubat fainted and disappeared. Poof!

  “Yes!” said Ethan, pumping his fist.

  “Yes, what?” asked Devin. “You think the lure module is a good idea?”

  “No, I won a battle!” explained Ethan.

  But before he could celebrate, Sparky took Zubat’s place. And that Jolteon Pokémon was fierce. He used his Thunder Shock attack against Pidgeotto over and over again, sending bolts of electricity across the screen.

  I can’t believe I’m battling Carlo’s Pokémon! thought Ethan, looking out the window to see if Carlo was still around. The bench was empty. And by the time Ethan turned back to his screen, the battle was over.

  “You lose!” the screen announced.

  Still, Ethan couldn’t help smiling as he walked toward the counter. “Wait, did you say something about a lure?” he asked.

  Gianna nodded. “We think Dottie should add a lure to the bike rack PokéStop out front. It would bring in a lot of customers!”

  “Can you teach her how, Ethan?” Devin asked.

  He shrugged. “I don’t exactly have a lure module sitting in my item bag. They cost a hundred PokéCoins, and I won’t get a free one until I’m at least a Level-Eight Trainer!”

  “No, no,” said Dottie, raising her hand. “I’ll buy it myself—I mean, if I can. I don’t know much about this Pokémon GO thing.” Her forehead creased with worry.

  “We can help you,” Ethan said quickly.

  He showed her how to download the app on her phone and create an account. Then he showed her the shop where she could purchase the lure module. “But don’t use it tonight!” he said. “It only works for thirty minutes. You want to use it when lots of people are going to be around.”

  “Like tomorrow,” said Gianna. “Saturday would be a good day, right?”

  “Yes!” said Devin. “You’ll sell a ton of Jigglypuffs on a Saturday.”

  “Tomorrow?” said Dottie, checking the clock. “I guess Saturday morning would be good. Maybe ten o’clock? But I’d better get busy baking if I’m going to be ready by then!” She pulled a hairnet over her cropped gray curls.

  Ethan checked the clock, too. “Oh, we gotta get home,” he said to Devin. “It’s been a half hour already!”

  “We’ll be back tomorrow,” Devin promised Dottie. “I’ll make a sign for the Jigglypuffs. I’m so excited!”

  Dottie looked more nervous than excited. But she smiled and said, “Thanks, kids. Can you lock the door on the way out, Devin? Just flip the little knob.”

  Ethan headed out first, with the girls close behind. But as they stepped onto the sidewalk, he heard Devin whisper, “Don’t look now. Don’t move. There’s a Beedrill sitting on the bike rack!”

  CHAPTER 3

  Ethan pulled out his phone to catch the buzzing Beedrill, which loomed large on his screen. It glared at him with its red eyes, daring him to take a shot.

  As he held his finger on the Poké Ball, he waited for the circle around the Pokémon to shrink down to size. The circle was an orangish red, which was never a good sign.

  Ethan’s first Poké Ball bounced right over the Beedrill. The second struck it dead center and captured it. “Yes!” shouted Ethan.

  Then the ball wiggled, and the Pokémon buzzed right back out. “So you want to play that game, huh?” Ethan muttered, trying again.

  “Do you want help?” asked Gianna.

  “No, I’ve got this,” said Ethan. He tried to use Gianna’s curveball approach, but he missed the Pokémon entirely. Oops! He turned his body so that Gianna couldn’t see the screen.

  With his fourth Poké Ball, he held his breath. He waited until after the Beedrill had done its dodge move. Then Ethan flung the ball.

  “Bam! Yes! Gotcha!”

  Except he didn’t. The Beedrill broke loose again and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

  “No!” Ethan sunk down onto his knees. “Beedrill is going to be the end of me, I swear.”

  “I caught it,” Devin said proudly, holding up her phone. There was Beedrill hovering over the seat of a bike.

  “You didn’t catch it,” Ethan corrected her. “You took a picture—that’s different.”

  “It’s a pretty good photo though, isn’t it?” said Gianna, grinning.

  Ethan had to admit that it was. It looked like Beedrill was actually riding the bike. “I wish we’d ridden our bikes,” he said. “We’re going to be late again. I hope Mom doesn’t ground us!”

  “Or take away our phones,” added Devin, looking horrified. She took off like a shot, and Ethan and Gianna raced after her toward home.

  On Saturday morning, when Ethan opened his eyes, he heard Devin arguing with Mom in the kitchen.

  “But I’m going to have Jigglypuff doughnuts at Dottie’s!” Devin protested.

  “Doughnuts aren’t a proper breakfast. And it’s too early to be talking about Pokémon. Now, eat your eggs.”

  Ethan pushed back the covers, stretched, and then padded into the kitchen. He found Dad at the table, staring at his phone. “Are you playing already?” Ethan asked.

  Dad stole a look at Mom and shook his head. “No, of course not. I’m in the middle of, um … sorting my contac
t list. See, this here is my friend Larry.”

  Ethan looked over Dad’s shoulder. He was tapping the little pencil beside a Weedle! When the “Set Nickname” box popped up, Dad typed in the name “Larry.”

  Ethan choked back laughter. “Wow, um, I didn’t know you had a friend named Larry.”

  Dad nodded. “Oh, yeah. We go way back.”

  Way back to when? Last night? thought Ethan. Right before you fell in the ditch? But he didn’t say anything. Judging by the bandage on Dad’s knee—and the look on Mom’s face—he probably didn’t need to be reminded.

  It took an hour before Ethan and Devin could convince Mom to let them head to the doughnut shop. They hopped on their bikes to make up for lost time. Strapped to the bar of Devin’s bike was her sign for Dottie’s window, rolled up into a long tube.

  When they reached the shop, it was already almost ten. Ethan expected to see trays of pink Jigglypuffs on the counter. Instead, he saw only Dottie, dabbing at her tear-stained face with a napkin.

  “Oh, kids,” she said. “I’m glad to see you. Something awful happened last night. Someone broke into the shop!”

  “What?” asked Ethan. “No way! What did they steal? Did they get into the cash register?”

  When Dottie shook her head, her earrings jingled. “No, thank goodness. But they stole a tray of Jigglypuffs. Right off the counter!”

  Ethan blew out a breath of relief, but Devin looked devastated. “Not the Jigglypuffs! What about your big sale today?”

  Dottie shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to do it another day.”

  “Do what another day?” asked Gianna, pushing through the front door.

  After Dottie filled her in, Gianna leaned against the counter, resting her chin in her hands. “That stinks. Setting the lure was such a good idea, too!”

  “I know,” said Devin. “I brought the sign and everything!” She unrolled the scroll of paper to reveal a sign made from one of her photos. Jigglypuff was sitting on a plate beside a cup of coffee.

  Above the photo, Devin had written in big letters: GET YOUR JIGGLYPUFFS AT DOTTIE’S DOUGHNUTS. TWO POKÉMON GO-NUTS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!

  Looking at the sign that Devin had worked so hard on, Ethan felt a sudden surge of anger. “We should do the sale anyway,” he said. “We’re not going to let some dumb thief ruin our day, are we?”

  Gianna followed his lead. “No! Maybe we can just set the lure a little later, like at noon. Can we, Dottie?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t have enough doughnuts—I mean, Pokémon GO-nuts—to sell. I’d have to make more, and there’s just no time!”

  “What if we help you?” asked Gianna.

  Devin perked right up. “Yeah, we can help!”

  Ethan wasn’t so sure. But he was willing to pitch in, if it would make Dottie feel better.

  She turned and looked at the kids, one by one, and finally said, “Okay. We can try.” She even smiled, just a little.

  Soon the four of them were busily making Jigglypuffs. Gianna helped mix up the batter before Dottie fried the balls of dough. Ethan was in charge of adding food coloring to the frosting to make it the perfect shade of pink. And Devin stuck candy eyes and chocolate-kiss ears onto the frosted doughnuts.

  By the time they were done, Ethan realized something. He had been at the doughnut shop gym for two hours, and he hadn’t trained his Pokémon. He hadn’t even thought about it—not once!

  When he pulled out his phone, Dottie misunderstood. “Are you going to show me how to set that lure module now?” she asked brightly.

  “Um, yes. But let’s do it on your phone, since you already bought the lure.” It took a lot of strength for Ethan to slide his own phone back into his pocket.

  “We’d better hurry!” said Devin, washing her hands. “It’s already hot out. If we wait too long, people will want ice cream instead of doughnuts.”

  Ethan caught the hurt expression that flickered across Dottie’s face. But he knew Devin was right. They were running out of time. So he showed Dottie how to set the lure module on the bike rack PokéStop, right through the glass window.

  Then he pulled out his own phone, and was happy to see the pink petals falling all around the PokéStop on his map. He knew other Pokémon GO players could see them, too—even from three or four blocks away!

  Ethan had never set a lure before. “I sure hope it works,” he whispered, smiling.

  Devin and Gianna had already stepped out front, scanning the street for Pokémon—and customers. When Ethan’s phone vibrated, he checked the screen. A Spearow was sitting next to the PokéStop! He took a moment to capture it through the window.

  “Is that a Pokémon?” asked Dottie. “I don’t understand. I thought the lure model was supposed to draw in customers, not Pokémon!”

  “That’s how it works,” Ethan explained. “It lures Pokémon. Like, one every few minutes. And because there are lots of Pokémon here to catch, people show up, too. At least, I hope they will!”

  “Oh! We’d better get this up, then,” said Dottie, reaching for Devin’s sign on the counter.

  Ethan pressed the sign against the window while Dottie taped the corners. Then he hurried outside before another Pokémon showed up.

  As soon as he stepped onto the sidewalk, he stopped short. The street suddenly seemed crowded, very crowded. He looked left and then right. People were coming, alright. And lots of them!

  “Dottie!” he shouted back through the door. “Get ready!”

  CHAPTER 4

  “May I help you?” asked Ethan, pulling on a new pair of plastic gloves.

  The doughnut shop was so crowded that he and Devin were helping Dottie serve customers. Gianna was pitching in, too, refilling the napkin dispenser by the coffeepot.

  “Can I have a Jigglypuff, please?” asked a little boy, standing on tiptoe to see over the counter.

  Ethan reached for the tray in the glass case and saw that there were only two Jigglypuffs left. “You can have one of the very last ones,” he told the boy, whose eyes lit up.

  “We’re going to have to start pushing other doughnuts,” Ethan whispered to Devin as Dottie rung up the sale. “And I think you’d better take down your Jigglypuff sign!”

  While Devin pushed through the crowd to pull the sign from the window, Ethan took a good look at the doughnuts that were left in the case. When the next customer stepped up, he cleared his throat and said, “Would you like to try a Long John? Or how about a cream puff? Baked fresh this morning!”

  By the time the crowd thinned out, Dottie’s case was nearly empty. She sank down into one of the booths and sighed happily. “That was really something, kids,” she said. “I’m pooped!”

  “The lure module was a success!” said Gianna, squeezing into the booth beside Dottie.

  “So were the Jigglypuffs. What a great day!” said Devin, sitting across from her.

  Dottie nodded, but Ethan saw the moment when her face began to fall.

  “It sure didn’t start out that way, though,” she said. “I’m almost afraid to leave the shop this afternoon. What if someone breaks in again tonight?”

  With that, the happy mood in the bakery popped like a PokéStop bubble.

  “I wish we could figure out who the thief is,” Ethan murmured.

  Dottie sighed. “I should have installed a security camera way back when, like everyone told me to.”

  “Maybe there’s another way to catch the thief,” suggested Gianna. She tugged on one of the bug antennae on her cap, as if it helped her think. “Were there any clues?”

  Dottie shrugged. “A missing tray of Jigglypuffs. That’s it.”

  “Which door did they break in through?” asked Ethan. “Maybe they left fingerprints!”

  “That’s what I don’t understand!” said Dottie. “They didn’t break in at all. The lock wasn’t damaged, and no glass was broken. Maybe someone has a copy of my key?” Her forehead wrinkled with worry.

  Suddenly, Devin’s did, too. “Oh, no,�
� she whispered. “I think I forgot to lock the door last night. Because we saw that Beedrill, remember, Ethan?”

  She stood up, fishing her phone out of her pocket. “I got a picture of the Beedrill.” She showed it to Dottie, as if that would somehow make up for the unlocked door and the missing doughnuts.

  Then Devin pulled her phone back. “Wait, there’s something else in the picture. Look!”

  Ethan glanced at the photo. “Yeah, you already showed me that. It’s Beedrill riding a bike.” He was still bitter about the way that buglike Pokémon had burst out of the Poké Ball—twice!

  “But whose bike is it?” asked Devin. “Maybe whoever owns it saw something, or knows something about the crime!”

  Silence fell over the table as Ethan and the others chewed on that thought.

  Ethan studied the bicycle. He couldn’t see very much of it in the photo, but he could tell it was a bright red bike with the word MILE on it. Or was that part of another word?

  “If someone parked their bike here on the sidewalk, they could have overheard us talking about the Jigglypuffs,” he agreed. “That person might even have come back later to steal them!”

  “Hold on, now,” said Dottie, raising her hand. “Let’s not go accusing anybody until we have all the facts.”

  “Right,” said Gianna, her antennae jiggling as she nodded. “Whoever owns that bike is just a person of interest—wanted for questioning, I mean. We have to calmly analyze the situation.”

  “Huh?” said Devin. “Have you been watching a lot of crime shows?”

  “No, she’s quoting the Team Mystic motto,” explained Ethan. “And I guess that motto is a good way for us to try to solve the crime, too. So … who’s with me?” He held out his hand in front of him, palm down.

  Gianna put her hand on Ethan’s. “I’m in.”

  Devin slapped hers on top. “Me, too!”

  Dottie smiled. “Alright, then. As long as you promise to calmly analyze the situation.”

  “We will,” said Ethan. “Go, Team Mystic!”