Cracking the Magikarp Code Read online

  As he held his finger down on Kingler’s crabby face, Voltorb sent a spark flying across the screen.

  “Mystic, stop!” Devin hollered.

  “Devin, be quiet!” Ethan hollered right back. “You’re distracting me!”

  By the time he turned back to his game, Voltorb was gone.

  Poof!

  “Devin!” Ethan cried. “You made me lose. I never even got the chance to fight Gyarados!”

  But his sister wasn’t listening. She was trying to wrestle something out of Mystic’s mouth.

  Is that a newspaper? Ethan wondered. Then he saw the swirly blue and green shapes—and the bright red ink. That was no newspaper. That was a map.

  Another fishing map.

  Another coded fishing map!

  CHAPTER 7

  “Sheesh, what’s all the commotion about?” asked Gianna, lowering her phone. “How’s Giadude99, expert Pokémon Trainer, supposed to get anything done around here?”

  By the annoyed look on her face, Ethan could tell that she had lost the battle against Team Instinct, too.

  Then she caught sight of the map. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Devin nodded—and finally managed to coax the map out of Mystic’s mouth. “She found it stuck into the bridge rail. I think it has codes on it!”

  When a tan, teenage boy with a fishing pole glanced over, Devin lowered her voice. “Should we take it somewhere else?”

  “This way,” said Carlo, gesturing toward shore.

  They met by the rocks below the bridge, the same place where Carlo had caught a whole school of Poliwag yesterday. Then they spread out the map on a wide, flat rock.

  This map was coded a lot like the old one, Ethan noticed. There were three fish by the reeds. Three fish by the dog-swimming pier. One fish drawn by the beach, and one more by the picnic area.

  “But look what’s new,” said Carlo. “Here are two fish, right by the rocks.”

  “These rocks?” asked Ethan, looking down at the ones they were sitting on.

  Carlo spun the map around. “Yeah,” he said. “These rocks. Weird.”

  Ethan glanced around to see if there were any fishermen nearby. The teen boy was still fishing from the bridge, but he was the closest one. “This doesn’t exactly seem like a hot spot for fishing,” said Ethan.

  “How about for Pokémon hunting?” asked Gianna, sliding Devin’s phone out of her pocket.

  Ethan checked his own phone. The first thing he saw was that the gym on the bridge was still yellow. So Carlozard14 didn’t beat Magikarp Kid either, he realized. But Carlo was much better at hiding his disappointment than Ethan and Gianna had been.

  The next thing Ethan saw was a round, blue-and-white Pokémon.

  “Poliwag alert,” he said, nudging Carlo’s arm.

  “Again?” said Carlo.

  “Okay, so there are at least some Pokémon here,” said Gianna, checking the phone in her hand. “But we already proved that the symbols on the map aren’t Pokémon, right?”

  Devin nodded. “Right.”

  Mystic barked up at her, as if to add her two cents. The puppy had been sticking to Devin like glue all day. Ethan could barely take it anymore.

  He’d been planning to ask Gianna for some Poké Ball throwing tips today. And there was a Poliwag bobbing right there on his screen, ripe for the picking. But Ethan just didn’t have the heart to play.

  He dropped his phone in his pocket and slumped down on the rock. “So now what?” he grumbled. “Team Mystic lost the battle against Team Instinct, and we’re pretty much blowing the Case of the Magikarp Code, too.”

  “Wow,” said Gianna, leaning away from him. “Complain much?”

  Ethan knew he was being a downer, but he couldn’t help it. He really, really needed something to go his way today. He avoided Gianna’s eyes and picked at the rubbery tip of his shoe.

  “Maybe you’re just thirsty, like Mystic,” said Devin. She tugged on the puppy’s leash, trying to keep her from lapping up the lake water. “C’mon. Let’s go get something to drink from Dad.”

  I’m not thirsty, Ethan wanted to whine. I’m not your puppy, something you can just lead around. Maybe Mystic is, but I’m not.

  So when the other three hopped up and headed toward Dad and the cooler, Ethan stayed behind.

  Until he realized just how hot and thirsty he really was.

  Then he reluctantly pushed himself up and headed toward the shade of the willow tree.

  “Crispy little fish!” Dad announced at dinner that night. “Bluegill, Sunfish, and Pumpkinseed—Devin’s new favorite.” He winked at Devin as he slid a crispy filet onto her plate.

  Mystic whined from beneath the table, her nose sniffing like crazy.

  Ethan thought about sneaking her a piece of fish. Maybe then she’ll finally acknowledge me, he thought. But Mom had eagle eyes. She’d spot the handout for sure, and that would take this day from bad to worse—fast.

  “So, did you catch the big one today?” Mom asked, smiling at Dad as she spread a paper napkin across her lap.

  Obviously, he didn’t! thought Ethan. Or we wouldn’t be eating crispy little fish. Why even bring it up?

  But Dad just grinned. His sunburned face was starting to peel, and his eyes looked puffy from getting up early to fish so many mornings this week. But somehow he still had enough energy to make up a story about the one that got away.

  “It was this big, right, Ethan?” said Dad, spreading his arms out as far as they would go. “And it put up quite a fight. Fought like a carp, that Northern did. Yep. So you know what I decided? I decided to let it go. I’m going to let it live another year and get even bigger. Maybe next year, I’ll reel it in.”

  Ethan couldn’t believe how happy Dad seemed. And he’d been having worse luck than anyone this week! First the nasty sunburn. Then the falling-off-the-boat incident, and ruining his cell phone. And he hadn’t even come close to catching the big one. But here he was, eating crispy little fish and cracking jokes, as usual.

  Complain much? Ethan heard Gianna’s words in his head again. And he suddenly felt like a grumpy old Voltorb.

  When Mystic licked his hand beneath the table, he felt his frustration start to melt away.

  “Pass the crispy little fish, please,” he said to his dad. “I’m suddenly starving.”

  After dinner, he asked Mom if he could brush Mystic, whose fluffy coat needed daily grooming.

  “You know she doesn’t sit very well for that,” Mom warned. “You’ll have to hold her tight.”

  “I know,” said Ethan. “I just want to try.”

  Mom was right—Mystic was a squirmy worm during the brushing, but Ethan stayed patient and calm. He collected a whole ball of orange fur in the brush before he finally let her run away. When she headed straight for Devin’s room, he tried not to let it get him down.

  Later, while he was lying on the living room rug sorting through the Pokémon he’d caught, he felt her wet nose nudge his arm. Play it cool, he told himself. Don’t act too excited.

  He reached his hand down casually and started scratching her back. When she rolled over, the back scratch turned into a belly rub. And pretty soon the puppy was rolling from side to side on her back, snorting and grunting.

  “Does that mean she likes her belly rubbed?” he asked his mom, who was reading a book in the rocking chair nearby.

  “I think it means she loves it,” said Mom, laughing. “Take your hand away and see what she does.”

  As soon as Ethan stopped rubbing, Mystic nudged his hand again. So he kept at it, rubbing her little tummy while she grunted and rolled from side to side. It was so cute, Ethan laughed out loud.

  Even Devin came into the living room to see what all the fuss was about. “Wow,” she said, “Misty likes a good belly rub, huh?” She sank down into a chair.

  Ethan expected the puppy to jump up and take off toward Devin, but she didn’t. She chewed at her tail for a little bit, and then she curled up in a little ball and
went to sleep. Right beside Ethan.

  A few minutes later, she started to squirm. Her legs jerked, as if she were running in her sleep. “Devin,” he whispered, “I think she’s dreaming!”

  Devin clamped her hand over her mouth. “So cute! I’ll bet she’s dreaming about catching fish.”

  “Or rolling in them,” said Ethan. He tried not to laugh each time a squeaky little bark or growl escaped from the sleeping pup.

  And right then and there, he forgave her.

  It’s okay if you don’t love me best, he decided. I’m going to love you anyway. And I’m going to train you, too, even if it takes a really long time. You’ll see.

  CHAPTER 8

  Mom declared Tuesday the official take-a-break-from-the-lake day. She wasn’t working, and she said Dad’s sunburn needed a day to heal.

  “Really?” said Dad, touching his cheeks. “I thought it was looking pretty good today.”

  Ethan scooted his chair closer and took another look. In the light from the kitchen window, Dad seemed to have three shades of color going on now.

  The bottom of his face had turned from red to brown. The top was still white. And the line in the middle still looked pretty pink. Like Neapolitan ice cream, thought Ethan with a grin.

  “So what should we do this morning?” asked Mom. “School shopping?”

  “Ugh,” said Ethan. “I’m trying to pretend that we’re not going back to school next week.”

  “Me, too,” said Devin. “In fact, I have no idea what you guys are even talking about.”

  She scooted back her chair, scooped up Mystic, and carried her like a baby down the hall, singing an I Love Summer song that she’d pretty much just made up on the spot.

  Mom sighed. “You know who’s going to be the most bummed out next week when you go back to school?”

  “Me?” guessed Ethan.

  “Nope. Mystic. She’s going to be awfully lonely around here without you two.”

  “Yeah,” said Ethan. “Poor girl. So we should probably take her to the lake today, while we can.” He raised his eyebrows at Mom hopefully, but she wasn’t having it.

  “Tomorrow,” she said. “You can take her again tomorrow. This morning? It’s school shopping.”

  Ethan stuck out his lower lip, pretending to pout. But the truth was, he didn’t really mind a day away from the lake. He and his friends hadn’t gotten any closer to cracking the Magikarp Code. And besides, he wanted to spend some time training Mystic today.

  As he went to his room to get changed, he reached down into her basket of toys and picked up her tiny tennis ball. It seemed so little compared to the one she’d tried to steal from the retriever at the lake. The memory made Ethan laugh now.

  She could be stubborn and naughty, yes. But she was a tough little thing, too. If she were a Growlithe, she’d be my strongest Pokémon, he thought. For sure.

  “Is Gia here yet?” asked Devin, poking her head through the door of Dottie’s Doughnuts.

  Mystic strained at the leash in Ethan’s hand, hoping to bust into the doughnut shop, too. But he held her back and made her sit on the sidewalk.

  He heard Dottie answer no, so he took a seat on the bench to wait. Then he remembered that the bike rack nearby was a PokéStop, so he pulled out his phone to gather a few Poké Balls.

  Suddenly, his phone vibrated. Mystic looked up, cocked her head, and growled.

  “You see it, too, huh?” Ethan whispered, staring at the purplish-blue mothlike Pokémon. “That’s a Venomoth. And they are not easy to catch.”

  “A Venomoth? Really?” said Devin, pulling out her own phone as she walked back out of the shop. “Good thing Gia just showed up. She can help you catch it.”

  Ethan shot off a Poké Ball without waiting, just to see if he could catch the fluttering Pokémon on his own. But it fell way short. Catching flying things wasn’t Ethan’s specialty. So when Gianna locked her bike up against the bike rack, he was ready to ask for help.

  “How would you catch this Venomoth, Gia?” he asked her. “I really need to work on my throws.” He held out his phone to Gianna.

  “Okay,” she said, studying the screen. “Well, see the shadow underneath the Venomoth? Watch that to see how far away the Pokémon is. Otherwise, it’s hard to tell.” She flung the ball and hit the Venomoth dead center.

  “Excellent!” read the screen.

  “Yes!” said Devin, pumping her fist.

  But then the ball cracked open and the Venomoth popped out. Seconds later, the purple Pokémon disappeared in a puff of smoke.

  “No way!” said Ethan.

  Gianna sighed and shook her head. “Sorry, Ethan,” she said, handing back his phone. “Sometimes a Pokémon just doesn’t want to be caught. We should have used a Razz Berry to sweeten it up!”

  “That’s okay,” he said. Somehow, it made him feel better to know that Gianna didn’t catch every Pokémon that crossed her path, either.

  As he slid his phone back in his pocket, it bumped against something else—the tiny tennis ball he’d been carrying around all morning. He pulled it out to show Gianna. “I’ve been working on another kind of throw today, too.”

  Mystic saw the ball and immediately started jumping and barking.

  “Whoa,” said Gianna. “She really loves her ball!”

  Before Ethan could give it to the puppy, Dottie came out carrying a bowl of water—and something that looked like a cookie. It was orange and shaped like a fish, and Dottie set it down right in front of Mystic.

  “Is that what I think it is?” asked Ethan, his jaw dropping.

  Dottie shrugged. “I had a little free time,” she said. “I thought I’d whip something up for your little buddy. I’m afraid it’s tuna flavored, because I couldn’t find any Magikarp flavoring at the grocery store.”

  Devin laughed and clapped her hands. “A Magikarp biscuit for Mystic. Dottie, you’re awesome!”

  “I think you should open Dottie’s Doggy Doughnuts,” said Gianna. “Mystic thinks so, too.”

  The puppy was tackling the biscuit as if it were a real fish. She took it in her mouth and shook it a little, then set it down and started gnawing on a corner.

  “Well, you kids gave me the idea,” said Dottie. “You always inspire me when you come back from Pokémon hunting. Have you caught much at the lake this week?”

  Ethan sighed. “Not really,” he said. “Nothing’s biting at Badfish Creek.” He meant it as a joke, but Dottie picked right up on it.

  “Badfish Creek,” she said, gazing into the distance as if she could actually see it. “My grandpa used to take me fishing there when I was a little girl. And that was a long time ago.” She put her hands on her hips and grinned.

  “Really?” said Devin. “Did you catch bad fish at Badfish Creek?”

  “Nope,” said Dottie. “We caught good fish. Grandpa told me that the creek was named by fishermen who wanted to keep their favorite fishing spot a secret. They named it ‘Badfish’ so that other people wouldn’t want to fish there, and they’d have the creek all to themselves.”

  “Smart!” said Ethan. “Those fishermen were pretty sneaky.”

  “For sure,” said Gianna. “I wouldn’t have thought about doing that.”

  “Sure you would have,” said Devin. “You’re plenty smart. You’re the one who’s been helping us figure out the Magikarp Code, remember?”

  Gianna shook her head, which sent the antennae on her bug cap bouncing. “I’m much better at capturing Pokémon than I am at cracking codes.”

  As Ethan watched the antennae bob back and forth, he batted a thought around in his mind. Dottie’s story about Badfish Creek had given him an idea, or at least the start of one.

  He narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on it. But it kept fluttering around like that Venomoth, threatening to get away.

  “Ethan?” Gianna said, sounding very far away. “Earth to Ethan.”

  “Huh?” he asked.

  “Dottie wants to know what kind of doughnut you wan
t today.”

  “I haven’t figured that out yet,” he admitted. “But I might have just figured out something else.”

  “What?” asked Devin, her eyes wide.

  “The code,” he said. “I might have just cracked the Magikarp Code.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Ethan was sure Wednesday would never come. But, finally, morning sunlight spilled through the cracks in his blinds, and Dad tapped gently on his door.

  Dad was all dressed and sporting his new fishing hat, which had an extra-wide brim. “Get up, lazy bones!” he sang. “Early bird catches the fish—or something like that.”

  Ethan sprang out of bed and hurried to get changed. Team Mystic was meeting at the lake in one hour to test his new theory about the Magikarp Code. He was half excited, half terrified. What if he was wrong?

  He knew his friends would forgive him, even if he was wrong. He just really hoped he wasn’t.

  Devin got ready quickly, too. And she had just as much trouble finishing her cereal as Ethan did. “I’m not hungry,” she finally said, pushing the bowl away. “I’m too excited!”

  Beneath the table, Mystic seemed excited, too. Maybe she had seen Ethan slip her tennis ball into his pocket again today. Or maybe she could smell the extra Magikarp biscuit that Dottie had given him and Devin. That was in his pocket, too.

  If Mystic wouldn’t listen to him today, he’d try giving her a bit of the Magikarp biscuit. To sweeten her up, he thought. Just like giving a Razz Berry to a Pokémon.

  Finally, it was time to hop in Dad’s car and drive to the lake. Ethan had a feeling Gianna and Carlo would already be there, and he was right. Their bikes were locked in the rack in the parking lot by the lake.

  Ethan was racing down the trail before Dad had even collected his tackle box from the trunk.

  “I hope you catch the big one today, Dad!” Devin called over her shoulder.

  Mystic ran at their feet, barking excitedly.

  “Where are Gia and Carlo?” asked Devin, her head swiveling from side to side. “By the bridge?”

  Ethan shrugged. “They probably went straight to one of the one-fish spots on the map,” he said. “The beach or the picnic area.”