Chapter 57: Let the Game Begin

"Ah sweet, merciful land, how I missed you!" I said with relief as I found myself lying belly down upon the grainy sands of the beach. It had been a full hour since our arrival upon the island and the sick feeling in my stomach from being on the ocean for so long had long since dissipated.

My trainer was currently out shopping with Laura, or rather he was out assisting her with the shopping by being her bag carrier. Laura's new Pokémon, Deezy or however it's pronounced, was in his ball. There's not much about him I know about other than the fact he keeps looking for ways to run off back where we first encountered him.

Zack and Ted I heard last ran off some place or rather. I can't very well say where, but knowing them they most likely stumbled into something I'm sure Ted could help him with. Speaking of whom, I did find him quite the mystery in some aspects. While I find his presence somewhat calming, I can't help but feel as though there's something about him he knows about, something that gives him an odd ability to foresee certain things the rest of us are not able to. I can admit, however, that I find him a respectable kind of mon.

A feeling of disappointment overcame me as Zack came to mind. It wasn't so much directed at him as it was at me. Not long ago I opened up to him about my struggles to have friends and he graciously accepted it with open arms. Since then I've been working on trying to be better at being a friend to him as he has to me, yet recent events felt as though all of that proved that nothing about me has changed and it made looking Zack in the eye that much harder.

I sighed. Once again I just wounded up proving him right about me. For all the smarts I have, I let every word he's spoken to me get under my skin, prompting me to prove him wrong. That, however, was not the main concern at the moment. I had to figure out a way I could face Zack and own up to what I've done, what I cost us to lose. How could I though?

Perhaps that was something I could worry about on the next ship, provided the ship's swaying doesn't make me too sick. At least I wouldn't be bothered as much as I do on a constant basis. Speaking of being bothered, there was one member of the team whose presence and whereabouts were currently unknown.

I always found her… odd, I suppose you could say. She had the tendency to appear from nowhere without so much as a word, saying things that didn't make sense, and was overall unpredictable, making someone like me nervous at what she could do next.

As it were, as I was enjoying the days of sunshine beaming down upon me I heard someone say suddenly, "Ah! There you are! I knew my tracking skills were impeccable as always."

I stifled a groan as I looked up at the familiar pink cat standing before me blowing bubbles from a pipe she had in her mouth. Part of me wanted to question it, but the other part knew by now that it was just Skitty being her usual self and that by questioning what was on my mind would result in a nonsensical answer coming from her. So instead, I went with a more logical approach to keep her from hurting my brain.

"Hi Skitty," I said. "What can I help you with?"

"It's not about helping what I need," was her reply. "It's about helping the young, the defenseless…." She paused for a brief moment. "Is that a guy drowning offshore?"

I rolled my eyes as I lowered my head back down. Yep. As usual Skitty was just…. random. It was rather annoying, but there were times her being random helped in certain situations. It still made me question what she really knew or if she lived in her own little world that coincided with what was happening around her.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to enjoy what time I have before we're back on the open sea," I said to her, closing my eyes. "So would you mind-"

"Charcoal?"

My entire body tensed as my eyes shot open.

Oh no!

"I need your help."

I slowly brought my gaze back upwards, up past Skitty to bring them directly to the familiar pair of yellow eyes I knew all too well. I gulped silently, my heart racing as events prior I had fought to suppress surfaced forth. I hadn't really bothered speaking to anyone since our leave of Vermillion in fear of incurring their disappointment.

But wait! Did Zack just say he needed my help? Perhaps it was an entirely different situation and I was freaking out for no reason. But then, what if the help involved talking with me about what happened?

"O-oh?" I asked him. "W-with what exactly?"

"I'll have to explain on the way," he said as he slightly turned. I noticed the worried expression that adorned his face. "We don't have a lot of time!"

"Alright then," I said as I stood myself up, brushing the sand off me. "Lead the way."

"I see," I said as I rode upon Zack's back, having listened to the situation at hand. "So for you to get back what they took from you, they want to play a question game that will lead us to their hideout."

"That's pretty much the gist of it," Zack said as we neared the restaurant. Skitty was in tow right behind us as he began to slow. "Ted's keeping an eye on them until we get back."

"Good idea on his part," I said, hopping off as we entered. The aroma wafting in the air, mixing with so many others filled my nostrils all at once, causing me to realize that it would be best for me to grab a bite before our next ship arrived.

"We're back!" Zack piped up, catching the attention of the familiar brown bear sitting at the bar. Sitting on either side of him were a Purrloin and a Sandile, both young and both remaining sitting where they were without so much as turning.

"Welcome back," Ted greeted us. "Glad to see it took you no time at all to find Char-bro."

"Thank Skitty," Zack said. "She kinda just ran right to him like she knew where he was."

"Ding!" Skitty said as she suddenly popped out from behind the bar, a gold coin atop her head. "I found treasure!"

"Give me that!" a blue, humanoid Pokemon grunted as he grabbed the coin from off her head.

"Below I go!" she said as she lowered back down, only to reach a paw up and feel around the countertop. Close by sat a glass of half drunken milk, no doubt the very thing she sought to grab. Watching her for several seconds, the humanoid Pokemon sighed and slid the glass over within paw's reach. Making contact with the glass, she gripped the rim of it and brought it down with her.

"Freaking weirdo," the humanoid Pokemon said. "So this is the teammate you were talking about huh? The intellectual one?"

"That's him," Zack said with a nod. "If anyone can solve the questions those two throw at him, it's him."

"Good luck with that," he said as he resumed cleaning the glass he was holding. "Think you can go unfreeze them now."

I turned my attention upon Ted who poked the two young Pokemon in various spots. Like watching an inanimate object coming to life, so did these two as they finally moved for the first time since we walked in, jumping off their seats in pure fright. Oh my

"How in the hell did you do that?" the Purrloin asked.

"It felt like my entire body was frozen, but I could still breathe!" the Sandile said. "What did you do to cause us to freeze like that?"

"That's a secret!" Ted said with a smile. "Now would you be so kind as to start the game already? We're on a bit of a tight schedule."

"I suppose," the Purrloin said with a frustrated sigh before walking over to me. "Ok Mr. Smart Guy! Let's see if you can solve our questions."

"This is going to be good!" the Sandile said.

"Quiet, Meguro," the Purrloin said. "I'm formulating here." She was quiet for a moment. "Right! So with only one hour and fifty-three minutes, the first question for you is this: where did your friends first see us?"

"Oh that's easy," Zack said. "It was-"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Meguro spoke. "You're not allowed to help."

"What? How come?" Zack asked. "It's my cloth you took!"

"We agreed to your friend helping, but he is the only one who can answer our questions," the Purrloin said. "Those are our rules."

"You can't change the rules like that!" Zack yelled, turning to the humanoid Pokemon. "Mr. Uncle guy, do something!"

"Are you delinquents causing trouble for these tourists?" he asked in a gruff way that made him seem quite intimidating.

I blinked. Uncle? He was their Uncle? The guy literally looked like he was a brain snap away from breaking the glass he was holding and destroying the place.

Huh.

That almost feels like something Zack would think. I guess he must be rubbing off on me.

"Let's not worry about that, Zack bro," Ted said. "Let's roll with it."

"But-" Zack began.

"Need I remind you we're on a tight schedule? The longer we sit here arguing, the less time we'll have to find your cloth."

"I get it," I said as what he said clicked for me. "This is how you do things." I turned to the two. "But because you now know we're on a time crunch, you're going to use that to your advantage."

As expected, they reacted exactly how I thought they would. A look of surprise donned Meguro's face while the Purrloin was simply annoyed with the fact I figured out how the pair operated.

"Fine," she slightly growled. "You figured us out. Our decision doesn't change though. Only you are allowed to answer our questions. No one else is allowed to help."

"Very well. I accept."

"Then let us begin," the Purrloin said. "Do you have an answer to the question? About where your friends first saw us?"

I cupped a claw underneath my chin as I pondered the question. That was a tough one to answer, considering around that time I was struggling to get off the ship and cease the swaying. What made the question harder was the fact that I had no idea where on the ship Zack was standing when he lost his cloth nor the direction the wind blew it in.

With time ticking, I had to figure out the precise location Zack first saw these two. The only way to do that was…

A shimmering light suddenly caught my attention from the corner of my eye, turning in time to see the source disappear from view. How peculiar.

"I think I do," I finally spoke, my gaze affixed to the spot I saw what caused the shimmer. "Follow me."

"Here goes nothing," I thought as I was followed out. "Let the game begin."

Guess who's back! Surprised right? Even I'm surprised that I actually updated this story after so many years! Inspiration comes in many strange ways and there are two particular people I need to thank for inspiring me to get back into this!

VeryGoodSausage, Ravengal, thank you! Our reminiscence of this story prompted me to go back and read, which lead to the update of this story.

Now as for future updates, I can't give you any timeframe of when the next chapter will be. Life's been keeping me busy as well as spending time with friends and uploading on YouTube. If you're interested, I think I may have left a link in my profile, but just in case the username is under burningskycloud.

I'm really excited to move the story along even if it's by a small bit. Great things will be happening with Zack and his friends so keep a watchful eye out!