Chapter 62: Cloth Retrieved

"How?" Lani asked in utter disbelief. "How is it possible that you've been able to solve every question we've thrown at you? There is no way even the most intelligent of Pokemon could solve every single question we've given. You had to be cheating! You had to!"

"That's fine if you choose to believe that," Charcoal said. "But I have witnesses here that can testify against it." He looked up at the trio standing just to the side with a small smile. "So as far as the agreement we made goes, I've kept my end of the bargain." He paused as he folded his arms. "Of course, if you want to make a big deal out of it, I can just sick Skitty on you again."

"Please no!" Meguro begged. "It's been nerve wracking with her being here. I don't want her to do anything more crazy!" No sooner did he say that than he was suddenly grabbed and spun around to come face to face with the Pokemon he wanted to stay away from.

"Crazy? Who says I'm crazy? I'm not crazy! You are!"

"Chillax, Skit-sis," Ted said. "The poor guy's terrorized enough as it is."

"There can never be enough terrorization!" Skitty claimed. "But I suppose he's learned his lesson for one day." Meguro backed away as quickly as he could once her hold on him was released, hiding behind Lani for protection.

"Wuss," was all Lani said.

"In any case, I would really like to finish up these questions," Charcoal said. "I believe we're on the final question if I'm not mistaken. If you would be so kind."

Lani gave Charcoal a most deadpanned glare, wanting nothing more than to feign accusations of them cheating just to claim her victory. Unfortunately, the Skitty they had with them was their ace card and not knowing what she could do annoyed her all the more. "So close," she thought. "If only I had just a little more time."

"If you insist," Lani said. "But I assure you that you won't be able to solve this last question."

"We'll see," Charcoal said.

"Question twenty! Where is our hideout located?"

"That's not fair!" Zack spouted. "How is he supposed to answer that when we don't even know where it is?"

"Our game, our rules," Lani purred. "But please rattle on. I would love to hear your complaints!"

"Not another word, Zack," Charcoal said as Zack opened his mouth to retort. "They're baiting you to say something so you'll slip up and cost us."

"Yeah but-"

"Don't worry," Charcoal said, his stern gaze affixed to the two kits. "I won't fail this final question. Trust me." He then looked up at him, determination shining in his eyes. "I got this."

Zack was left in shock, his maw slightly agape as he stared back into Charcoal's eyes. He couldn't quite explain it, but something in his very being told him to put his trust in the Charmander and that it would all be okay. It was very odd to say the least but seeing the confidence in Charcoal's eyes made him feel like he could actually do this.

"Okay," Zack said after a moment. "If you say you got it, then you got it."

Charcoal responded with a nod before turning his attention back upon the kits. "Right. Your hideout. So let's see here." Claws on his sides, Charcoal took a look back in the direction they had come from, thinking back on all the questions that he had solved thus far. "Every question you asked related to something related to this island, but every answer given was some random part of said island. Judging by the distance we've walked from where we first begun is how the two of you operate if caught, which I'm sure has happened at least on several occassions.

"Now, for the hideout, a hideout is normally known as a fortress one goes to to escape the cruel reality of the world, much like a safe haven. Treehouses are well known for being a hideout, depending on the location of course. You have your backyard tree houses which are built in the backyard of homes to which only family members and close friends know. Then there are the ones you find out in such places like a forest or a grove. This I feel would not be the case."

"How do you mean?" Zack asked curiously.

"Take these two for example," Charcoal explained. "They're known for pickpocketing and stealing belongings from those who come to visit this island. They've been doing this for so long that they figured keeping all those belongings in a spot they could be eventually found at would be too risky, so they would need to find a more secluded spot that wouldn't be stumbled upon. The best way to do that would be to go someplace no one would think to wander to; and considering this game they thought up of, their hideout would have to be in a place that would give those seeking a choice whether to retrieve their belonging or give up on it."

He pointed a claw out towards a tall building far from where they stood, one that had a round balcony at the top. "The lighthouse would be the perfect spot for the two of you to hide everything you claim for your own; or somewhere near it."

"Is that so?" Lani asked. "So I take it that that's your answer?"

Charcoal opened his mouth to respond, but stopped himself as another thought occurred to him. "No," was his reply. "Not entirely. Even if it were true that the lighthouse was your hideout, it wouldn't necessarily mean we would find what we're looking for there."

Lani frowned.

"What makes you say that?" Meguro asked. "You just guessed that that's where our lighthouse is."

"Yes, that is true," Charcoal replied. "However, given the fact that the two of you know this island like the back of your paws, that would mean that you would know every little spot you could hide what you steal. That would mean… this entire island is your hideout!"

"No way!" Meguro said in shock. "He… he really is intelligent! No one has ever been able to solve all twenty questions!"

"All right, Charcoal!" Zack said as he bounced in place happily. "You did it!"

"There was no doubt he would," Ted said as he looked over at Skitty who had a popsicle in her paw.

"Yes. Congratulations," Lani said with a smug smile. "You solved our questions yet there's just one problem you face."

"Oh yeah?" Zack questioned. "And what problem is that?"

"As your friend guessed, we know every little spot of this island so finding your cloth could take ages to find," Lani told him.

"Wh-what?" Zack said, his ears drooping as his sudden happiness was shattered. "You mean we have to search the whole island? But… Charcoal answered your questions; and this place is huge! Don't we deserve the win?"

"It doesn't seem like they're going to play fair," Ted said. "How unfortunate."

"That's not fair though!" Zack cried.

"We never said we would return your item," Lani argued. "Only where our hideout is."

"I'm afraid she's right, Zack-bro," Ted said. "That was some clever wording."

"So what do we do now?" Zack asked. "My cloth could be anywhere!"

"I doubt you'll be able to find it," Lani said. "It's a big island."

"We also have another problem," Charcoal said.

"What's that?" Zack asked.

No sooner did he ask then the sound of a ship horn sounded.

"Better hurry," Lani said. "Don't want to miss your ship."

"Well this is quite the conundrum," Ted said. "Back at square one and out of time."

"This… this can't be happening!" Zack said panickingly. "I can't leave my cloth behind! It's special to me! Charcoal, Ted, what do we do?"

"I'm… I'm afraid there's nothing we can do," Charcoal said. "We can't expect our trainers to stay here for the rest of their lives and I know you don't want to separate from us."

Zack turned to Lani. "Can't you please just tell me where my cloth is? Just be nice this once?"

"You think we get what we want by being nice?" Lani questioned. "Sorry pal, but you're out of luck."

"So then, I've lost my cloth forever? I won't get it back?"

"I can get it back," Skitty said suddenly, resulting in all heads swiveling towards her.

"What did you say?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, I can get it," Skitty said. "I think I have a rough idea of where it might be."

"You do?" Zack asked.

"What?" Lani asked, irritation in her voice.

"You three get to the ship," Skitty said. "I'll be back in a blink of a Skitty." She looked at Lani. "Enjoy the brain freeze!" Then, she was gone.

"Brain freeze?" Zack wondered as he looked towards the Purrloin to see a popsicle stuck to her head. It took a moment for the feline Pokemon to register, but when she did she began screaming how cold it was and tried pulling it off her, only to find it stuck.

"Charcoal, Zack! Let's move!" Ted said, already in position to speed off. "We have a ship to catch."

"Oh, right!" Zack said as he lowered himself. "Charcoal, hop on!"

Ted took off half of the speed of a Quick Attack as Charcoal climbed upon Zack. "Go, Zack!"

"Hold on tight!" Zack said as he took off running after Ted, leaving behind the two troublemakers as Meguro was now trying to pull the popsicle off of Lani.

"Oh that cat will pay!" Zack heard her say as he made a fair distance from them in a matter of seconds.

"Do you think we'll make it?" Zack asked as he found Ted a reasonable distance from them already.

"We just might," Charcoal said. "That was only the first callout for any stragglers to make their way back so I reckon another five or ten minutes. We'll make it."

"Do you think Skitty really knows where my cloth is?"

"It's Skitty we're talking about," Charcoal answered. "She's random, but she can really come through when you least expect it… in her own Skitty way of course."

"What do you mean?" Zack asked.

"Never you mind," Charcoal said. "Just focus on getting us to the ship."

"Will do," Zack said as he sped up.

Seeing ahead, he saw Ted nearing the turn that would take him to the ship and got there not long after with the ship straight ahead of them. "Almost there!" Zack said. "We'll definitely make it!"

"I think I see our trainers," Charcoal said. "I had a feeling they'd be waiting. Might want to go into a full on Quick Attack. I'll be alright."

"Right," Zack said as he began to speed up even faster.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" someone suddenly yelled.

Both Charcoal and Zack looked back to see a cloud of dust coming at them full speed. The one creating the sudden dust was none other than the Sawk they met earlier at the restaurant. That wasn't the worst of it though. His face appeared even more frowned to the point of it being glaringly scary.

"Zack? Zack, I'm scared!" Charcoal said.

"AAHHH! Don't kill me Mr. Nosebrow! I'm sorry I called you Nosebrow! I swear I didn't mean to insult you!"

The sudden adrenaline was enough to send Zack into an overdrive Quick Attack, one that passed by even Ted who merely looked back as the Sawk sped up and passed by him before leaping into the air at a great speed, somehow over shooting the two and landing right at the ship's entrance.

"What the-?" Zack's trainer said in surprise, shocking both him and Laura.

"Hit the breaks! Hit the breaks!" Charcoal yelled, smacking Zack on his side.

Gritting his teeth, Zack slid along the pavement as he ceased running, coming to a stop right in front of the Sawk who raised up his fist and pulled it back preparing to blow.

"Well life, it's been real!" Zack thought as he shut his eyes and slowed to a stop right in front of him as his fist shot forward.

A moment passed as Zack sat there with closed eyes, readying for the blow that would take him from the world. When no such thing happened, he dared to cautiously open an eye to see why no such thing did happen only for the first thing for him to see was something red gripped in the hand of the Pokemon.

"My cloth!" Zack said, opening both eyes as he took it in his paw. "You have it!" He looked up at the Sawk, confusion swirling in his brain. "But… how do you have it? Those kits told me it could have been anywhere on the island."

"Found it in the backroom," the Sawk said. "Hid it among the other rags I had. Only rag I noticed was a bit dirty and had a smell to it."

"Th-thank you!" Zack said as he held the cloth to him tight. "You have no idea what this means to me."

"Don't sweat it," the Sawk said as the ship blared its horn a second time. "You best be scaddadling. Just take that thing with you."

Heads turned in the direction he was pointing as they saw a familiar pink sight running towards them upon the water. "I AM SKITTY ALMIGHTY!" Skitty said laughing as she leapt suddenly and up the side of the ship. "FEAR MAH POWAH!"

Silence ensued amongst everyone as they watched her run up onto the ship for a moment before Zack's trainer broke the ice. "Was that your Skitty running on the water?"

"Uh huh," was all Laura could muster out.

"I feel like we might have missed something important," Zack's trainer said.

"I think it's better we don't know," Laura said.

"Point taken. We should probably get on the ship now."

"Yeah. We should."

The ship's horn blared a third and final time as the workers prepped for its departure minutes later. Zack, Charcoal, Ted, and Skitty were all looking from the railing down below at the Sawk to give their final farewells. "Thanks again for getting me my cloth!" Zack said.

"Make sure not to lose it again," the Sawk said. "If it means that much to you, keep it held tight."

"Don't worry! I will!"

"The feline cat's fur may be stained with the popsicle I stuck on her!" Skitty said, resulting in the Sawk raising his eyebrow.

"Eh, good enough punishment I suppose," the Sawk said. "Freaking weirdo cat."

"Well that was a horrifyingly fun ending to our adventure," Ted said. "It was quite a blast."

"One thing I'm curious about," Zack said. "If he had the cloth the entire time, then where did you run off to, Skitty?"

"Elementary, my dear Zackary!" Skitty said once again, blowing on her pipe. "A Skitty never reveals the secrets that lie within the bubble's secret."

"Wha-?"

"Don't question it, Zack bro," Ted said. "Best to leave it alone."

"Probably," Zack said as the ship began taking off.

"Guess this is my cue to go lie down," Charcoal said. "I heard this ship won't dock until midday tomorrow. How fun."

"Before you do," I have to say that was awesome how you were able to figure out all the answers," Zack said. "I couldn't have gotten this back without you."

"It's… what friends do, isn't it?" Charcoal asked.

"It definitely is!" Zack replied. "I'm surprised you were able to figure all those questions out!"

"Actually Zack, I didn't," Charcoal admitted. "I barely understood half the questions asked, especially the first question."

"Huh?" Zack questioned, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "What do you mean? You solved all those questions. How else would you have figured them out?"

Charcoal held out a claw as several bubbles floated by, letting one land on it as he gently stared into its shimmering clear form. "It's what I said about Skitty earlier. She has her ways of coming through in her own way."

"Okay?" Zack said. "But what does that have to do with not knowing the questions?"

"Back when we were in the restaurant, I noticed the sun's rays reflecting off the bubbles outside," Charcoal explained. "I can't really explain how, but somehow the bubbles showed me all the answers I needed."

"Wait, what?" Zack questioned as he looked back at Skitty who waggled the pipe in her mouth. The pipe… the pipe! He recalled her having the thing since their arrival on the island. Had she really been blowing bubbles the entire time? Even before Charcoal agreed to the game? If that was the case, how was she able to make the bubbles guide Charcoal to the right answers?

"All those times you kept glancing up, you were looking at the bubbles, eh Char-bro?"

"Yeah," Charcoal said, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry I didn't let you guys know, but I couldn't let those kits know."

"Understandable," Ted said. "It was pretty clever of you. Besides, they admitted to having no intention of returning Zack-bro's cloth, so fair's fair in this situation."

"Speaking of said cloth," Charcoal said as he turned his attention onto Zack. "I think we need to personally see to it that your cloth doesn't go flying off again. We don't want the same situation to occur."

"Agreed," Ted said.

"Guys I dropped my pipe," Skitty said as she looked down at the water.

"How do we do that though?" Zack asked.

"Mind if I see it?" Charcoal asked as he held out a paw.

Without questioning his intentions, Zack handed his cloth over to Charcoal who folded it into the shape of a triangle before tying it upon Zack's left ear.

"There we go," he said, making sure it wasn't too tight, but tied enough to where it wouldn't fall off. "I don't think you'll be losing it anytime soon."

"It looks good on you like that," Ted said. "Definitely a good spot."

"Wooowwww!" Skitty said, marveling at the sight.

Charcoal then shifted his attention onto Ted who turned his attention right back and nodded with a smile after a moment before walking off. "I'm going to mosey off and check the ship out if you don't mind."

"Sure thing," Charcoal said. "We'll catch up in a minute."

"Hmm?" Zack murmured curiously. "Something up, Charcoal?"

"Zack, listen," Charcoal began, a bit quieter as he rubbed at his arm. "I don't have any excuse for what happened back at the Vermillion Gym. I let my emotions get the better of me and attacked the Raichu the way I did. I… can't explain it, but when I get knocked down repeatedly, it's a trigger. I get angry and I wind up doing whatever it takes to win." He paused only a moment to sigh. "Our trainer made the right call not accepting the badge. I know I have a lot to do to work on this, but it's not easy. I… want you to know that."

Zack was silent as he listened to Charcoal's every word and waited for him to finish.

"I'm not ready to tell you everything just yet. I'm still working through it. I promise you though that I will when I feel ready to. I hope you can understand at the very least."

"Only if you promise to work on being better in battles," Zack said. "As much as I enjoy battling, I don't want to have to go back to every single one of them for a rematch because of something you did. So promise me that you'll work on being a better fighter."

Charcoal was silent for a moment before raising up a claw. "You have my promise I will."

Zack lifted his paw to meet Charcoal's claw, wrapping it around to seal the deal. "Good! Now then, I'm going to check this ship ou-"

Zack stopped abruptly as he watched Charcoal's head turn and followed suit. His eyes went wide in the next instant as both he and Charcoal watched the body of a human face down in the water pass by them. They just watched in shocked silence before looking up at Skitty as she spoke.

"Huh. I guess he really did drown."

"I'm going inside," was all Charcoal said as he stiffly walked away.

Author's Note: Whoo boy! This is probably the longest chapter that I've written yet. Just in time for the end of 2023 too. So yes this arc is finally over and now we get to move on to the much awaited arc I've been excited to get to! No spoilers though! You'll have to read and find out!

I want to give much thanks to VGSausage and ravengal for rekindling my spark for this story. There is much love for it and I enjoy getting to write all the fun, wacky, awesome scenes that, in my opinion, make this story a treasure to cherish! So stay tuned for the next chapter because things are going to get 20% awesome! Also Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!