Apple Pencil usb-c not connecting in iPad 10th gen, but shows it’s connected in settings.

I have the iPad 10th gen and I updated it to iOS 26 about a month ago. I have the Apple Pencil usb-c and it worked fine before. I got a new case and I started to contstanly lose it, now I plug the Apple Pencil in to my iPad, it connects, it shows up on my battery widget and in the settings. But it doesn’t interact with the screen like it should. I have a screen protector and I have peeled most of it back to see if it works but nothing.. does anyone know what’s happening?