Nate and Katie had walked out of the school and were hanging around the front of the school, just talking while Whisper and Jibanyan were busy planning out the rest of the day. Eddie walked up to Nate and Katie and asked,
"How are your projects going?"
"Oh, they're going great!"
"We're actually almost finished!"
Nate and Katie both knew that it wasn't a total lie. They were actually going to look for more bugs later, it was just that they had a new secret project that was taking up most of their time. Trying to understand Yo-kai was a lot of work and they were both extremely thankful that it was during the summer that their Yo-kai adventure began and not during school.
"Oh, that's good! I finished my project already, but I'm still really bored. I'm trying to find something else to write about, but I don't know what. I guess I'll see what comes around."
Bear suddenly ran up to the group, completely out of breath.
"Bear? What's wrong?"
He held up a finger as he was catching his breath and as soon as he was able to converse with them, he suddenly yelled, startling the whole group.
"I lost my mom's birthday present! I spent weeks saving up enough money to get her something nice and it disappears the minute my back is turned!"
"Where did you last see it?"
Bear sighed as he asked,
"You guys know about the King of Catfish Pond, right?"
The group, except for Whisper and Jibanyan, had heard of the King of Catfish Pond. It was a supposedly large fish that has extremely hard to catch and the only way to catch it was to use shiny objects as bait, or that's how the story went.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Well, I had bought the ring for my mom and I wanted to give it to her before she left for her class reunion, but she wasn't home yet. I decided to go fishing to pass the time, so I grabbed one of the cheap plastic rings I had around in my room to use as bait. I go up to Catfish Pond, hook up the cheap ring to my lure, and I discover that the ring I bought for my mom was missing! I'm just back-tracking to see if I had lost it before I got to Catfish Pond."
"Hey, Whisper. Do you think that the King of Catfish Pond is actually a fish Yo-kai, nya?"
"I'll look it up. You see if they mention anything else, Jibanyan. This is very curious."
As Whisper was about to look up any information on the King of Catfish Pond, he suddenly came across a news article about some recent thefts.
"Oh, great."
Nate and Katie turned their heads towards Whisper and after seeing if Eddie and Bear were paying attention to them, they quickly sat down next to Whisper to see what the article said.
Thefts in Human Realm Threaten Yo-kai Safety!
Recently, a string of thefts in the Human Realm has many Yo-kai concerned. Normally, it wouldn't be a huge problem, but the items in question are far too expensive to just sweep under the rug. We suspect that another group of evil Yo-kai has been doing the crime, but we have no information as of yet for motive. We urge all Yo-kai to be careful until the culprits are caught. As long as they're causing trouble, no innocent Yo-kai is safe from being a victim of flase accusation from the humans.
Nate glanced up and whispered,
"I thought only a select few humans could see Yo-kai?"
"Yes, that's true, but they're also refering to Yo-kai that disguise themselves as humans. If they're revealed to be Yo-kai, all Yo-kai might get blamed for any crimes commited, making things tense between the human and Yo-kai Realms and we don't need a war starting up, dang it!"
Nate and Katie quickly stood back up and went back to their friends before they suspected that something was up.
"Sorry to hear that, Bear. What are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to keep looking. You guys are more than welcome to help me if you want."
"What does the ring look like?"
"Oh, it was gray with some engraved symbols. I know it sounds vague, but I don't have a better way to describe it. Nate, Katie, can you guys check by the riverbank? I know I walked by there on my way to Mount Wildwood. Eddie and I are going to check around the school. We'll meet back here after we're done searching."
Bear and Eddie went off in one direction while Nate and Katie started off towards the riverbank.
"Whisper? Is it possible a Yo-kai was responsible for the ring disappearing?"
Whisper gave it some thought and said,
"Well, it is possible, but just try to remember that Bear might've just lost it without any Yo-kai influence. At least, I hope that's the case."
"We'll keep it in mind, Whisper. Trust us, we would be happy if a Yo-kai wasn't involved this time."
*****
They got to the riverbank and started looking under the benches for anything that looked like a ring. As they got close to the bench near the vending machines, they overheard a conversation between two women.
"A floating plate? Oh, please! Next, you'll saying you saw a flying saucer!"
"It's true! I saw a floating plate here in the river a few moments ago!"
"Well, I think you've been watching too much television. By the way, did you record last night's episode?"
The women left the area, still bickering over the floating plate.
"Hmm..."
Katie started tapping her foot as she was trying to remember something.
"Whisper? Kappas have plates on their heads and are considered Yo-kai, right?"
Whisper did a quick search and his eyes widened.
"Yes, Katie. I have to admit, I'm impressed! You've certainly done your homework!"
Katie beamed as she continued,
"She might've saw a kappa! We can ask the kappa if they've seen the missing ring around here!"
The group started to walk to one end of the riverbank when their Yo-kai Watches started going off near a sunflower.
"Okay, the Yo-kai Watches are saying that the kappa should be around here somewhere! Start searching!"
The light from the Yo-kai Watches shined on the sunflower and it revealed a sleeping blue duck-like Yo-kai with a water bottle around their neck, a gray plate on their head, and something resembling a lily pad under the plate.
"Is this really a kappa?"
Whisper searched it up and said,
"Oh! This is Walkappa! He's part of the kappa family, so yes."
Walkappa opened one of his eyes and gave a surprised yelp.
"Wait, you two can see me?!"
"Yes! Can we ask a favor of you?"
Walkappa suddenly dozed off and snapped back awake.
"Ah! Sorry, sorry...I was swimming earlier but then I realized that I forgot to eat something and now I'm dozing off at random times because of how hungry I am. If you guys can catch me three Carp, I'll be more than glad to help you with whatever you need!"
"Well, that's nice and all, but neither of us have fishing poles or bait."
"Oh, is that all? Here, I just so happen to have two extra fishing poles and some bait."
Walkappa summoned two fishing poles and took some bait out of the water bottle that happened to show up with the poles.
"Why do you keep fish bait in the same bottle you put your water in?"
"Oh, this isn't for water. This is my bait bottle. I have bottles for water, bait, and a nice miso soup. The soup's a family recipe, remind me to share some with you sometime."
Walkappa doozed off yet again, so Nate and Katie went to catch some Carp while Whisper and Jibanyan sat near Walkappa so that he didn't accidently fall in the river while he was dozing.
*****
After catching three Carp, Nate and Katir went back to Walkappa and gave him the Carp. He woke up, took the Carp, and ate all three in one go.
"Thank you! Here's my medal as a token of our friendship!"
There was a bright light as Walkappa's medal fell into Nate's hands.
"Okay, what did you guys need help with?"
Nate and Katie explained about the missing ring and asked if he had seen it fall in the area.
"You know, before I doozed off, I did see someone with the ring you were talking about. He had it tied to some fishing line along with another ring. I didn't see or hear it fall and I haven't seen or hear anyone say anything about it either."
Okay, so that means either Bear lost it somewhere else or it was stolen.
They decided to head back to the school to tell Bear what they had learned when they saw a crying child.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"My friend stole my comic book and won't give it back!"
"Here, we'll deal with it. You'll get it back soon."
They walked over to an inspirited child clutching a comic book.
"Hehe, this is mine now! He's not going to get this back ever!"
They shined their Yo-kai Watches near the kid, suspecting a Yo-kai was behind it and they were right. It was yet another Peckpocket causing trouble.
"Oh, man! I've been caught! Hmm...I like your watches. Maybe I'll take those instead. Or maybe that cat's collar. It looks to be worth something."
The kids and Jibanyan covered the mentioned items protectively as Whisper stood between the group and Peckpocket.
"Okay, buddy. You've already crossed the line with the comic book theft. You really don't want to mess with us!"
"Maybe I'll take you instead. Nevermind, you're too annoying."
Whisper was clearly insulted as he slowly got away from the group and said,
"Guys, make him pay for stealing that comic book."
They battled Peckpocket, beat him, got loose change and Gooey Candy and he ran north. The kid he had inspirited shook his head and seemed to realize something.
"Oh no! Excuse me? Can you give this back to my friend for me? I have no clue what came over me, but I want to work on my apology before I face him again."
The kid handed the comic book to Nate and walked off. Nate delivered the comic book to the crying child.
"Oh? He said he was going to apologize later? Well, I'll forgive him when we meet again. At least he realized what he did."
As the group headed back to the school, Jibanyan said to Whisper,
"Whisper, just so you kynow, I don't think you're that annoying, nya."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You're a nyice Yo-kai, regardless of what anyone else says."
Whisper smiled at the compliment as Nate and Katie nodded along to Jibanyan's words, agreeing with every word.
"So, who should we switch out for Walkappa? I want to see him in battle."
"Hmm...maybe Dimmy? We can let him have a break. Besides, I have a feeling a bigger battle is approaching."
"Oh, right! Let's see what we got from those favors we've been doing!"
Nate poked throught the bag, finding some Nasty Medicine, a book called Lil' Angel Heals, a talisman labeled Defense, and some food items.
"Okay, what does this book and talisman do?"
"Books can change a Yo-kai's nature or help them get stronger with their attacks or Soultimates. This book is usually best for healing Yo-kai."
"Well, I like Tattletell the way she is now. I'll just hold on to it until further notice."
"You can always sell it and any items you don't find useful, you know."
"Well, who would buy the stuff without any questions?"
"Mmm...good point. I think Everymart can buy stuff off you, but where do they get the money for it?"
"Well, they are a store chain. We'll see about selling stuff later. We have to check in on Bear and Eddie."
*****
Neither of the groups had any luck finding the missing ring. Eddie looked at his watch and said,
"Dang it! I have to get back home and help my mom with stuff. Sorry to leave you guys shorthanded, but you know how my mom gets. Good luck!"
Eddie rushed back home as Bear started back towards Mount Wildwood.
"I'm going to see if I dropped it on my way up there. Besides, I left my fishing stuff up there and I really don't want to have to buy a new set."
Nate and Katie just stood there, unsure of what to do.
"Maybe we should head up there too?"
"Yeah, we'll cover more ground that way."
As they were about to head off, they saw Detective Holdit walking by.
"Oh! Hey, Detective. Anything interesting happen yet?"
"Actually, I'm on a very good lead! A Yo-kai from a group of Yo-criminals I've been after for a while was last seen heading in this direction!"
"Was it a Peckpocket?"
"Yeah! How'd you know?"
The group filled the detective in on what happened.
"Of course! That group may have stolen your friend's ring and is planning to make a profit off it!"
"What does this group do anyway?"
"Oh, they're a bunch of scam artists. They steal items of sentimental value, hide them away for a while, come into town pretending to be 'item finders', charge a large fee to find the items, and they just happen to find the items near where the person lost it when they actually put the item there the night before, and make off with the cash after their work is done. The rest of the Yo-kai Realm finds them annoying and they've hired me to catch them in the act so that they can finally put them away for good. The problem is, they're too good to be caught. They always skip town before I can nab them and I only hear about it from either the local Yo-kai or if the townspeople were talking about a group of humans that happened to find their items."
"Well, we're going to Mount Wildwood to help our friend. If we find anything about the group, we'll send a Yo-kai to get you."
"Thanks, you two. Go on before your friend becomes a victim of these scam artists."
*****
They rushed up to the shrine on top of Mount Wildwood, not seeing Bear on their way up.
"I hope we're not too late, guys."
"Don't worry about it. We'll catch them before it gets out of hand."
After stopping at the Eyepo and switching out Dimmy for Walkappa and summoning him, they rushed over to Catfish Pond. They found Bear checking the ground near the pond. Nate whispered to Walkappa,
"Walkappa? Can you see if the ring got in the pond? Maybe the scam artists threw it in there to make it more difficult for our friend to find it."
"Okay! I'll go check the water, you go help your friend."
The group walked over to the pond and started to help Bear look on the ground.
"Any luck yet, Bear?"
Bear shook his head.
"Not yet."
Walkappa jumped into the pond, startling everyone in the area.
"What was that?!"
Nate and Katie had no clue on what to tell Bear and just watched as Walkappa kept searching for the ring, making large splashes as an excuse to explain how the ring got out of the pond in case Bear questioned about how Nate and Katie found the ring if it had been in the pond. It wouldn't answer the question of how it got in there in the first place, but they'll hopefully figure something out.
"Hey, I think I found it!"
Walkappa swam back to the surface, holding the ring they were looking for.
"You might want to clean it off first if it's supposed to be a present."
"HEY! NO SPLASHING IN THE POND!"
The group was startled at the yell, except for Bear, who had left some time ago to collect his nerves about the 'mysterious splashes'.
"Oh no..."
Whisper quickly looked something up and a look of horror crossed his face.
"Guys?"
"Yeah?"
"You've just upset SV Snaggerjag, aka The King of Catfish Pond."