The Alola region was normally pretty warm, only changing a few degrees in the winter and summer. This stayed true in Po Town too since, with all the rain, the place was normally humid and hanging around the same temperature.
There was one week, however, where the Ula'ula was having a real scorcher, making the whole of Po Town feel like everyone was swimming in thick soup. Everyone was miserable as they tried to keep out of the rain and sit in front of fans in the main house.
Reeda barely came out of her basement that week, staying where it was cool. It was a little better than the people who were sweating it out in the main house, but the place wasn't a complete solution. Fang would use Ice Punch on the wall behind her fan and use the ice behind it to chill the room, and Reeda had used one of her blankets to block out the basement windows. The lights gave off some heat, but at least the place was functional.
"Reeda? You in?"
"Where else would I be?"
Cissel staggered in and closed the door behind her quick. She seemed to brighten up a little after noticing the change in temperature. "You keep a tight lid in here!"
"Everyone else is trying to do the same."
"Yeah, but you keep a real tight lid when it comes to this heat. It's actually a little chilly in here come to think of it."
Reeda shrugged. "I learned some tricks when I was in Konikoni. Remember? The boat?" The old boat in Konikoni had been a heat magnet, but the floor remained cool because of the water. After closing off the windows and making a few ice bags with Fang's help, the place would be cool enough to live in during the day.
"I remember." Cissel snapped her fingers. "Speaking of remembering, all the grunts are heading out to the beach on route 16. Apparently the boss is sick of the heat as well, so everyone will be heading over there. I thought you'd like to know so we can both head over there together."
Reeda cursed internally. Leaving the basement would be suicide, but staying behind would be suspicious as well. No one would blame her though. Cissel could vouch that she was perfectly cool at her place.
Then people would try to get in and bum her cold though, and she didn't want the company in the first place. Her basement was okay but the rest of the house...
No, she had to risk it. Fang would be able to help her keep cool.
"... fine," Reeda grumbled. "I'm not getting my feet wet though."
"Fine by me!" She opened the door. "I need to get a few things, but I'll be outside the gate when you're ready!"
"Alright, see ya then I guess."
"Awesome!"
As soon as Cissel left, Reeda got to work. Fang helped her make an ice bag to strap over the back of her neck, and then he chilled the back of her coat on the inside. It was all she could do, but hopefully it'd be enough to deal with the heat. There'd be no escaping it, but if they could get out of the rain and to the meadow quick enough it'd be enough.
Reeda realized as soon as she got outside with Squeak and Fang that it was hotter than she had anticipated. Cissel was at the gate when she got there, and they got over it quickly enough. They traveled slow though, which she found irritating. She knew if they moved fast they'd get overheated, but she didn't want her ice to thaw. It had to last longer than this.
"Yo! Reeds! Cece!"
She and Cissel turned around to see the grunt who tried to give Reeda a cup of Tapu Coaco last month or so. He had apologized for everything, but in the end she made sure that he shouldn't feel guilty because he didn't know to begin with. He'd sometimes visit with Cissel, and in the end he was a pretty nice guy. He ran over to them, shirtless in a pair of flipflops and swimtrunks. The only other things on him was a towel and his bandana.
"Hey, Cooker," Cissel said, smiling. "Going to the beach?"
"I'd be an idiot if I didn't, yo." He gave Reeda an odd look. "Arceus, you gotta be boilin' in those."
"I run kinda cold," Reeda lied. "The only reason my basement's so cold is because of Fang's help."
"Ice behind the fan trick?"
"What else are you expecting?"
"Come on guys," Cissel cut in. "At this rate we'll be the last people there, so you two squabble all you want but with forward motion."
"Gee Cece," Cooker complained, but he decided to move forward all the same.
Reeda started to get hot. The ice was melting under her coat, making her humid inside. The only thing keeping her going was the ice pack on the back of her neck, but even then she knew it wouldn't last that much longer.
When they got to the beach, the whole of Team Skull had over run the place. They were all in the water floating and swimming, and the boss himself was there too. Floating on an innertube, his shades down over his eyes.
Even in the heat, Reeda thought he looked like a dork in the get up.
She knew she was the stupid one though. A coat and pants in hot weather, and not even going in for a swim.
"You sure you're not going to swim, Reeda?" Cissel asked. "You really look like you could use a cool off."
"I'm fine, really."
'Liar,' Reeda thought to herself. She knew she was red and sweating.
"Alright..." Cissel dropped her things off and let her pokemon out, revealing an Alolan Ninetales and a Togedemaru. They cheered and ran into the water to play with all the other pokemon, as did Cooker's pokemon. Squeak didn't want to budge, but Fang went off knowing he could trust his battle partner.
She couldn't be left alone anymore.
Reeda sat in the shade on the beach, trying to stay out of the sun. Her head hurt, and the ice had melted and the water made her coat humid. The sand was hot too.
Everything was hot.
Reeda watched them all keep cool in the water. She saw them splash about, the water making diamonds out of thin air. The splashing water became sand whipping around Reeda. Their cheers were the wind howling. The sun beat down on her.
'... Haina Desert?' Reeda thought sluggishly. 'No... this is the beach... there's water right in front of me or... is that an oasis?'
A gust of wind tried to shove her down. A stream of sand hit her cheek... or was it Squeak checking on her? Why was Squeak out with her in the desert... or was it still the beach?
"I'm okay..." Reeda wheezed. "Squeak, I'm okay... we're still at the beach right?"
She heard voices. Muffled cries of pokemon in the sand... one was loud and booming though.
"Squeak... I don't think... this is... I don't..."
A shadow engulfed Reeda, and before she lost herself to the desert, she couldn't help but agree with one thing.
Tapu Bulu really had come to wipe her off the face of the earth.
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The grunts were still playing in the water when one of them heard a pokemon crying. Cooker looked over and saw Squeak trying to shake Reeda. She fell to one side, unmoving.
Cooker ran over to her. "Damn it Reeds..." He tried to wake her up, he was only met with muttering. He couldn't make it out, but eventually it stopped and Reeda's head rolled to one side. "Reeda? Reeda?!" He tried to get her coat off. She'd die if she stayed in it. "Cissel! Boss! Someone, YO!"
Cissel saw Cooker and Reeda. Squeak ran over to Fang and the two sprinted back to their partner's side, trying to wake her up. She ran over, her Ninetales and Togedemaru close behind. When she got there, she tugged the bandana off Reeda's coat. "Diva, Ice Shard. I need ice."
The Ninetales froze the air around itself and set them in the bandana, which Cissel tied and put on Reeda's head. She was burning hot, her face bright red. Cooker struggled to get the coat off since the zipper had jammed.
"Cooker come on, we need to get her coat off."
"I'm tryin' but—" He stopped mid-sentence, the zipper freed from the fabric. He turned pale. "Cissel... I think there's a reason why Reeda didn't leave her coat."
They pulled it off her body. There were scars racing up and down her arms and wrists. There were some on her elbows that were still fresh, covered up with gauze and band aids. They looked at each other.
"You didn't... know, did ya?"
"No... I didn't."
"That's settled then."
They turned around to see Guzma right behind him, flanked by his Golisopod. He was dripping with water, the sunglasses back on top of his head and wearing his jacket. He bent down and pulled a knife out of his pocket, cutting Reeda's pants into shorts.
There were more scars that raced up to her thighs on both sides.
"...Tch!"
Cissel and Cooker jumped, scared of what he might say.
Guzma shot a look at them. "What are you staring at?!"
"Nothin' boss!"
"No you weren't." He jabbed a thumb at Reeda. "None of you knew about this at all, right?"
They shook their heads. "Reeda didn't talk much about her home life or before she came here though," Cissel blurted out. "I mean... she kept to herself a lot so..."
"Shut your trap kid." Guzma picked Reeda up and handed her to his Golisopod. "Tell the other grunts to go back to Po Town before dark, alright? I'm going back to Po Town."
"Yes sir." Cooker went off to tell he grunts, but Cissel stood back for a bit.
"... you tryin' to kill your friend?" Guzma asked. He looked and sounded dead serious, his real height towering over Cissel.
"I'm going back with you."
Guzma waved her off. "No, you're not. You'll only slow us down."
"I—"
"Are you tryin' to kill your friend, kid?" Guzma was pissed now. "I'll beat you down right now if you keep holdin' me up, you hear?"
Cissel stood still for a moment, then ran to catch up with Cooker.
Guzam grunted, looking down at Squeak and Fang. "Ya'll comin' or what?"
They ran back to Po Town, Reeda not even conscious to the world around her.
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Reeda was wandering the desert in her mind. Squeak was gone. Everyone was gone. Everything was lost to the desert.
Reeda tried to find the way out, but the sand kept getting into her eyes and the wind was pushing her towards something. So instead of fighting her way in the storm, she went with the direction of the wind.
After a while, she saw something in the side of a cliff. It looked like an ancient ruin, the door wide open and leading to black darkness.
Reeda stopped. She knew those ruins.
She didn't want to go into those ruins.
A low growl rumbled behind the entrance. The winds seemed to shove Reeda towards the entrance. She fought it as hard as she could, digging her feet in the sand. Vines suddenly leapt from the entrance, grabbing her legs and pulling her towards the cave. She fell down, hard, but trying to get some kind of foot hold in the sand. The growling continued until it became a howl.
Reeda fought as hard as she could, but when she looked back she saw that she was less than a yard away from the mouth of the ruins.
More vines grabbed her, this time her arms. She was pulled back into the darkness, screaming.