Setting Off a Chain Reaction: A Reborn Mono-Nuclear run/story

[Aphelli]

Good!

We finally got the dramatic face reveal... but the name didn't ring a bell. I had to look it up...

I didn't know that Uranium was so linked to the Pokemon Ranger storylines... That explains a lot of CURIE's overall skill (except against El, but that was expected; at least they managed to get out).   

The discussion of their motivations was welcome... it seems that they have legitimate reasons to gather the keys. I wonder what happened to them that caused their condition?   

I wonder if your character realizes that it provides them with an insta-win at close-ish quarters... But they're probably too moral to use it.  

Also, now that Brionne speaks, we need more scenes with them! 

 

On 11/4/2022 at 8:29 AM, CURIE said:

  @Aphelli your character is literally just Vero with a different name.

 

Why you little... 

(More seriously, I did not make a distinctive sprite for Gabriel -- mostly because I don't really care -- but it does not mean that Gabriel is similar to Vero either in looks or in personality. But I'm glad there's an AU where he gets to chill in the nightclub because someone else takes care of everything)

[CURIE]

On 11/5/2022 at 2:29 PM, Aphelli said:

I wonder if your character realizes that it provides them with an insta-win at close-ish quarters... But they're probably too moral to use it.  

 

Well I did mention in the gameplay section that I already had something kind of like that planned, but had to scrap it because I couldn't get the sprite to not look like crap

[CURIE]

If you haven't played Uranium or Shadows of Almia and plan to, and care about spoilers, then well you probably shouldn't have read this far anyway, but consider this your last warning before I spoil the shit out of them.  To be fair, with Almia it's not that big a deal since the story isn't what makes that game so great.  But Uranium though, that game's story is really what makes the experience.  It's way better than Reborn in that regard.

 

Bonus Chapter 10.5

 

 

Spoiler

Out of curiosity, I looked up the article that DJ had mentioned reading about me.

 

 

 

The rise and fall of one of history's greatest Rangers

 

If you live in a Ranger Union region then there's no doubt you know who Kellyn is, and even if you don't there's a good chance you've heard of him.  It's been a little over two years since he officially retired, but even now the impact he's had on both the Tandor Region and the Ranger Union as a whole is evident.  From the very start of his career over 30 years ago, he's broke records, made history, and has been described as "the Ranger equivalent to someone like Leon or Cynthia".  It isn't all sunshine and rainbows for him though: he's been the subject of a few controversies in his time, and the tragic events of the Tandor nuclear incidents have taken a heavy toll.  Many who don't live in Ranger Union regions are unaware of the full story, so today we're going to go over it all- and it's an incredible ride from start to finish.

 

Humble Beginnings

 

(An overhead view of Fall City, Kellyn's hometown)

 

Despite being known for starting his career in Almia, Kellyn was actually born in the Fiore region.  His upbringing was rather typical- although "typical" in Fiore means something different than most other regions.  For starters, Pokeballs are almost completely unused in Fiore.  The cultural reasons for this could be the subject of an entire article on their own, but the most obvious influence is that of the Ranger Union.  The stated purpose of the Pokemon Rangers is to preserve nature in its purest form, which includes not taking Pokemon permanently out of their natural habitats, while still upholding law and order in human society.  Of course such a thing would be impossible without the help of Pokemon, so instead of Pokeballs, Rangers use the Capture Styler:  A genius invention by the late Professor Hastings that can project its user's emotions onto wild Pokemon.  Using this, Rangers can "recruit" wild Pokemon as needed before releasing them back into their natural habitat, with minimal environmental impact.  Rather predictably, these ideals attracted a considerable amount of members who saw Pokeballs as "abusive".  Most infamously, many prominent Rangers (not Kellyn himself, though) came out in support of Team Plasma, at least before the terrorist group attempted a hostile takeover of Unova.  They all rescinded their support after that happened.  Back on topic, this anti-Pokeball sentiment from the Rangers bled into the populace at large, and while Pokeballs are not illegal in any Ranger Union regions (or RU regions for short), they are heavily looked down upon.  That isn't to say humans and Pokemon have no interaction:  Many people still keep Pokemon as companions or pets, just without Pokeballs, and Pokemon battling for sport is all but nonexistent.

 

Due to this difference in culture, where many children in non-RU regions grow up aspiring to be Pokemon battling champions, in RU regions they grow up aspiring to be Rangers.  Kellyn was no different, in fact he was even more set on being a Ranger than most other boys his age.  His mother once said in an interview that a young Kellyn would collect newspaper articles about Rangers and their exploits, and memorize their contents by heart in the hopes that the knowledge would better serve him when he was finally old enough to become a Ranger himself.  His parents supported this dream, and saved up their money to send him to Almia, the founding region of the Ranger Union and home of its global headquarters, to attend Ranger School.  They would also move to Almia themselves sometime later.  Not too much is known about Kellyn's time in Ranger School, aside from the fact that he attended classes with two other boys who would later become important figures in the Union's history:  Kieth, who would go on to become a fellow Top Ranger in his own right, and Isaac, a genius child prodigy who would go on to succeed Professor Hastings as the Union's head Styler developer.  It is also reported that there was a minor incident at his graduation ceremony involving a pair of rampaging Tangrowth, but he and Kieth were able to use Stylers that were provided by the school to de-escalate the situation.

 

A Career Born in Crisis

 

(Kellyn receiving his Styler from Barlow.  The "School Stylers" given to students are stripped down versions with missing features, and receiving a "real" Styler is considered the true beginning of a Ranger's career)

 

Despite the incident, Kellyn graduated and officially joined the force at 16 years old, the minimum required age to become a Pokemon Ranger.  He was assigned to the Ranger outpost in Vientown, a small settlement not far from the school he had just attended, under the command of the local head Ranger Barlow.  His early career was anything but uneventful, in fact he had joined the Rangers just in time for a regional crisis.  Not only were reports of Pokemon acting unusually violent on the rise across the region, but during his third day on the job the nearby Vien Forest was engulfed in a wildfire.  While the other Rangers evacuated people and Pokemon from the area, Kellyn used his Styler to recruit some particularly power Water-type Pokemon to put out the fire, demonstrating his aptitude as a Ranger even at an early age.

 

Now to those unfamiliar with the Capture Styler, what Kellyn did may not sound like that big of a deal.  It's at this point we should state that Stylers are much more difficult to use than Pokeballs:  A Ranger has to manually pilot the capture disc and repeatedly circle the targeted Pokemon with it in order for the empathic transference to take place.  Many Pokemon won't just sit and let this happen though, oftentimes they (understandably) mistake the capture disc for some sort of "attack" and fight back.  If the Pokemon breaks the loop before it's completed or attacks the disc itself, then the process is interrupted and the Styler can take damage or even be destroyed.  On top of that, the more powerful a Pokemon is, the more "loops" are generally required to complete the empathic transference, not to mention the more damage it can deal to the Styler.  to alleviate the difficulty posed by these factors, Rangers often use the help of previously-recruited wild Pokemon, similar to how a Trainer would weaken a wild Pokemon in battle before throwing a Pokeball.  But even with this assistance, capturing a particularly powerful Pokemon is considered a monumental task even for a seasoned Ranger, much less a Rookie like Kellyn was at the time.  This is what truly made Kellyn such an exceptional Ranger:  His sheer uncanny skill with the device.

 

(Footage of a Capture Styler being used on a Salamence, taken from a different Ranger in Fiore.  She would later say it was one of the hardest captures she'd ever performed in her career)

 

Back on topic, it was soon discovered that the fire and the erratic Pokemon behavior were connected:  A criminal gang known as Team Dim Sun were designing mind control devices in secret, and had been field testing them in preparation for a hostile takeover of the region.  The forest fire was actually caused by one of these tests, when the machine experienced a malfunction that quickly spiraled out of control.  Over time their sinister actions became more and more overt, eventually culminating in an incident where they used their machine to kidnap all the Pokemon on the island settlement of Boyleland.  Initially Barlow would go alone to investigate the disappearances (it was not yet known at the time that Team Dim Sun was behind it), a decision that would prove unwise.  He was ambushed and captured by the criminals, and the next day Kellyn would be sent to look for him (also alone, which seemed to be an even worse decision by his superiors).  During his search he would discover Team Dim Sun loading the stolen Pokemon onto a cargo ship, along with Barlow.  The ship was just about to depart, so with no time to call for backup Kellyn had no choice but to force his way onboard.  Despite being vastly outnumbered, he held one crucial advantage:  The Capture Styler could counter the effects of the Team Dim Sun's mind control, stopping the kidnapped Pokemon from attacking him and even turning them to his side.  And with how skilled he was at using it, there was nothing the villains could do to stop him as he freed Barlow and took control of the ship.  The criminals tried purposefully sinking the boat as a last ditch attempt to destroy evidence, but with the Pokemon's help Kellyn was able to slow the intake of water long enough for Barlow to crash-land the ship onshore, saving the lives of everyone on board.

 

(A picture taken immediately after the ship crashed ashore.  Luckily no one was harmed, and the Pokemon were later returned to their homes without further incident)

 

For the bravery and skill he demonstrated in this event, the Ranger Union's then-chairperson Erma decided to promote Kellyn to the rank of Top Ranger, a decision that was rather controversial since he was still only 16 at the time.  "Look, I won't deny that what he did was great and all," a different Top Ranger was heard saying, "but he's only been on the force for what, a week now?  Instantly making him a Top Ranger would cheapen the title!  Some of us worked our entire lives for that, you know!"  Regardless of the opposition, the promotion was upheld and Kellyn became the youngest-ever person to become a Top Ranger, a record that still stands and probably won't be broken anytime soon (we mentioned already that Kieth also became a Top Ranger, but he was slightly older).  Barlow would not be promoted, as his poor decision to investigate the Boyleland disappearances alone was what caused the situation to become so dire in the first place.  The Ranger who sent Kellyn to the island alone was also reprimanded.

 

Erma's decision would be proven right in time, as the Almia crisis was about to hit its peak and Kellyn would be instrumental to saving the region.  In a joint investigation with other Top Rangers, he would discover the truth about Team Dim Sun:  They were secretly being funded by the Altru corporation, an energy company that at the time was the economic center of Almia.  They were the true creators of the mind control devices, and were using Team Dim Sun as both a field test and a red herring to distract the Union while they finished their ultimate weapon:  Altru Tower, a skyscraper that was publicly stated to soon be the company's new headquarters, was in reality a massive mind control machine that, when at full power, could control every wild Pokemon in the entire region at once.  What's more is that, at some point, they had taken control of the legendary Pokemon Darkrai.  The Rangers also discovered the person who designed the tower, as well as its smaller counterparts:  It was none other than Isaac, yes, the very boy who would later in life become the Union's lead Styler developer.  It's worth noting that he was doing this not out of malice, but because he was deceived by Altru's president into thinking his inventions would be used for good.  "The technology we were working with was actually derivative of Styler tech," he would later say in an interview, "so when they told me it was to help people and Pokemon, I believed them.  Also I was literally a kid at the time, so cut me some slack!"  After discovering the deception Isaac would attempt to defect to the Ranger's side, but Altru would force him to return and complete the finishing touches on the tower by threatening the life of his younger sister.

 

(Altru Tower during the brief time it was activated.  The unnatural dark clouds are likely from Darkrai's influence, as weather manipulation was never confirmed to be one of its functions)

 

As Altru made their final preparations to activate the tower, the Ranger Union authorized a strike team composing of several Top and high-ranking Rangers (including Kellyn, of course) to raid the building and shut it down.  Many of the exact details regarding this "operation Brighton" remain confidential, but we do know that Altru was using Darkrai to guard the machine's power source.  We also know that the machine was activated for a brief time, but it had unexpected effects on Darkrai in particular, causing it to go on a rampage and banish the Altru president to the nightmare realm.  It attempted to do the same to Kellyn as well, but he successfully captured it and calmed it down, allowing the other Rangers to deactivate the tower.  The Altru president was extracted from the nightmare and arrested, Darkrai was freed back into the wild, and the Almia crisis was over- and while the contributions of the other Rangers shouldn't be ignored, Kellyn is considered to be the main factor in the mission's success.

 

The birth of the Tandor Rangers

 

Kellyn's accomplishments were far from over.  Over the years his work as a Top Ranger would take him beyond Almia, completing missions in other RU regions and even some non RU ones, including Sinnoh, Kalos, and of course Tandor.  He even played a minor role in the famous Oblivia incident, although it's worth noting he was not actually present for the appearance of Arceus.  In time he would complete the Almia browser (the Ranger Union's equivalent to the Pokedex), becoming the first Ranger to do so.  He also set a new record in the Capture Challenge, an institution in many RU regions that acts as a sort of Ranger equivalent to a Pokemon Trainers League.  The exact rules are different in each region, but the core concept revolves around performing many consecutive and/or difficult captures with little to no outside help.  For the Almian Capture Challenge, Rangers would take on segmented gauntlets of specially trained Pokemon, and would only be allowed to bring in one Pokemon of their choice to assist with the captures.  Some of these gauntlets were so difficult that no Ranger had ever beaten all of them...  Until Kellyn did exactly that.  When asked how he felt after this historic accomplishment, he simply replied "I hate Weavile now."

 

Due to an incident involving the legendary Pokemon Seikamater, he would end up spending an extended amount of time in the Tandor region.  It was there that he met his future wife Lucille, a brilliant nuclear physicist and chief supervisor of one of the region's three main nuclear power plants.  During this time he fell in love with both her and Tandor as a whole- and when he returned to Almia he began a campaign to set up a permanent Ranger base there.  There was a problem, however:  Like in most non-RU regions, Pokeballs were commonly used in Tandor and there was even a Pokemon Trainers League.  Despite this, Kellyn was adamant in his position and maintained that Rangers and Trainers could, and should, be able to coexist, which sparked a massive controversy among the rest of the Rangers as anti-Pokeball sentiment was still prevalent within the Union.  After a long debate at the Almian global headquarters between several top and high-ranking Rangers, Chairperson Erma finally sided with Kellyn:  "For years I have resented this idea among my fellow Rangers that Pokeballs are 'abusive'.  They are tools, just like Stylers, and can be used for good or evil.  Lest we forget, we've had bad actors in our own ranks as well.  The 'proportional abuse' argument that keeps being repeated is complete nonsense as well- Pokeballs are far more common than Stylers, of course there's going to be more Pokemon abuse tied to them!  If anything, pushing away the majority of the world as 'enemies' will only do more harm than good.  I agree that it's high time Rangers and Trainers learned to live in the same region, and so I hereby authorize Kellyn's motion for a permanent Ranger base in Tandor."

 

(A ranger outpost in Nowtoch City, right next door to a gym.  Two buildings that represent entirely different walks of life, and seeing them right next to each other was unprecedented at the time)

 

And so, a Ranger base was built in Bealbeach City and Tandor became the newest addition to the RU, as well as the first RU region to also have a Pokemon Trainers League- although active duty Rangers were still required to not use Pokeballs.  Obviously Kellyn was chosen to act as Regional Chief Ranger, and he and Lucille officially married later that year.  Closing the rift between Rangers and Trainers was no easy task at first, but as the years went on the two's coexistence became more and more normalized (no doubt helped along by Kellyn's stellar leadership).  In modern times, while anti-Pokeball sentiment still exists within the Ranger Union, it's nowhere near as prevalent as it was back then.  Kellyn even considered making Stylers available to the public, but decided against it:  "I just don't like the idea of one being restricted but not the other" he said, "but the Styler's potential to control large numbers of Pokemon at once makes it too much of a risk to just let anyone use.  Yes, most Rangers have Pokemon limits on their Stylers, but that's an artificial limitation which could be jailbroken.  That's basically what happened in the Fiore crisis!"  It's worth noting that the Fiore crisis was an incident where criminals stole and reverse-engineered Stylers to use in an attempt to seize power over the region, and while Kellyn was born in Fiore he was already in Ranger School at the time it happened.

 

At 32 years old, Kellyn and Lucille had a child:  A son who they named Vitor (Note:  We did not misspell "Victor".  His name is actually "Vitor").  Being the son of a high-ranking nuclear engineer and the one of history's greatest Rangers, it seemed the boy had a bright future ahead of him...  But that would only last about 3 years.

 

The tragedy

 

(Recovered security footage of the Epsilon plant meltdown, as well as the last time Lucille was seen)

 

Kellyn was 35 years old and Vitor was only 3, when an accident occurred at the the plant Lucille oversaw.  For reasons that are still unclear to this day, the uranium inside the reactor overheated, setting off a chain reaction and leading to a catastrophic meltdown.  Luckily everyone working at the plant was was able to safely evacuate... except Lucille herself, who was last seen running deeper into the facility for an unknown reason.  The radiation leaking from the broken reactor flooded the area, rendering it uninhabitable for years to come and making any attempt to search for Lucille impossible.  Since the power plant was on an island the environmental impact was thankfully contained, but the Pokemon living there had no means of escape.  Forced to live in an irradiated zone, many of them died- but those who didn't, adapted and changed, taking on characteristics that would later be classified as a new exotic typing:  The Nuclear type.  These Nuclear-type Pokemon exhibited extreme aggression, seemed to completely ignore the effects of the Capture Styler, and were impossible to control even when captured in Pokeballs.  It was believed at the time that this extreme behavior was due to them being in constant pain from the radiation, driving them mad, and so the Nuclear type was seen as a "disease" that needed to be "cured".  Scientists around the world searched for a way to restore these Pokemon to their former selves, but none was ever found.

 

As for the humans who were effected by the tragedy:  The loss of one's wife in such a terrible manner would have a profound effect on anyone, but Kellyn took it even harder than most.  People who knew him personally before the incident described him as always upbeat and full of optimism, but over time that changed- he became cold, jaded, and increasingly obsessed with his Ranger duties at the expense of his personal life... and his son.  Eventually, he sent young Vitor away to live with another family member in Moki Town.  While he never admitted it publicly, it's widely believed that Kellyn blames himself for not being able to protect Lucille, and with Vitor being a constant reminder of that failure he avoided his own son as a way to cope with it.  Reportedly, this made things awkward among the Ranger Union whenever Kellyn was present:  For all the good he had done, and was continuing to do, everyone knew that he was also a terrible father.

 

10 years after the catastrophe, the radiation on isle Epsilon had almost entirely dispersed, although the local Pokemon would still have their Nuclear-type properties.  It was safe enough for humans to go there again, and so work began on a new, better, safer nuclear power plant.  Meanwhile, Vitor would choose to become a Pokemon Trainer at 13 years old and took a part time job as research assistant to the local professor Ernest Bamb'o, while also taking on the League challenge.  Kellyn, now 45, decided he didn't want to run from his past anymore and was making efforts to reconnect with his son, although their relationship was understandably awkward and strained.  It looked like their family and the region as a whole was finally starting to heal... but disaster would strike again before any real progress could be made.

 

As soon as the New Epsilon power plant was turned on for the first time, it exploded- and this time the we know the reason:  Intentional sabotage.  The reactor had numerous automated failsafes to prevent such a thing from happening, all of which had been thoroughly tested prior to the plant's activation so the saboteur had to have been someone intimately familiar with how the system worked.  Where previously the nuclear fallout was mostly contained to isle Epsilon, this time the radiation cloud moved, almost of its own accord, across the ocean to the nearest city of Bealbeach... something that shouldn't have even been physically possible, and yet it happened. 

 

The crisis wasn't over yet:  The newly Nuclearized Pokemon migrated en masse toward the nearest of the two remaining power plants (dubbed "Zeta") and began attacking the personnel there.  Despite increased security, the unknown saboteur was able to use the chaos to get into the facility and cause another meltdown without being caught or even seen, making it clear that whoever was doing this had control over the Nuclear-type Pokemon and even over radiation itself.  This time the effects of the meltdown were far worse:  Unlike Epsilon which was on an island, Zeta was downwind from Route 8, where a large portion of the region's food was grown.  Huge swaths of farmland became uninhabitable wasteland, a disaster that likely would have led to famine in the coming years.  As for the more immediate problems, Kellyn and the Rangers were spread far too thin between all the necessary evacuations, a problem made a million times worse by the fact that their Stylers were effectively useless against Nuclear Pokemon.  They were forced to rely on Trainers for assistance, including Vitor who had already become a formidable battler in the short time since he had begun.  Like father, like son, so they say.

 

Despite the lack of information on this unknown villain, it was a safe bet that the region's last remaining power plant (dubbed "Omicron") would be the next target.  Security was redoubled and the the uranium fuel rods were removed from the reactor, forcing the entire region to run on auxiliary reserve power for the time being.  Sure enough, a horde of Nuclear Pokemon suddenly appeared to attack- even though it didn't make sense how they could, as Omicron was also on an island, yet many of the Pokemon to show up had no way of crossing the ocean on their own.  As a fierce battle ensued outside, another explosion came from within the plant- but with no uranium, there was no meltdown this time.  It was then that the mysterious terrorist finally revealed herself.

 

 

The masked woman, who identified herself as simply "CURIE", was in control of a never-before-seen Pokemon she called Urayne.  This creature, who would later be classified as a legendary, was the cause of the unnatural behavior from the radiation clouds and Nuclear Pokemon.  It was also the means through which she had snuck into the power plants, as its signature move "Quantum Leap" allows it to teleport (presumably this is how all those Nuclear Pokemon made it to isle Omicron).  The details of its origins would later be declassified by Interpol in the coming years:  Originally codenamed U092, it was actually a man-made Pokemon, created in secret in a series of highly illegal experiments in an attempt to make a source of unlimited energy.  The helmet that the unknown terrorist wore was more than just a gas mask, it was a mental relay device meant to communicate with suppress the will of, and ultimately control Uryane.  It was dubbed the "Cerebral U092 Relay and Inhibitor Engine", or CURIE for short (hence the woman taking its name as her own).  It turned out to be capable of relaying with more than just Urayne though, and could in fact be used on any Nuclear-type Pokemon, which is how the pair had been using them to attack Zeta and Omicron.

 

Urayne's most significant ability however, is to grow more powerful by absorbing radiation sources such as enriched uranium.  This was also its greatest weakness, for if it went too long without absorbing any it would run out of power and eventually die.  In this way, you could say that its original purpose to be an unlimited energy source was a failure.  The duo had been stealing uranium fuel from Tandor's nuclear plants, and leaving them in a state in which they would melt down in an attempt to make themselves harder to follow.  This time, however, there was no uranium to steal.  This enraged CURIE, and she attacked the nearest people demanding to know where it had been taken.  Kellyn, who was on the scene when she appeared, immediately tried to apprehend them, but this went poorly.  Urayne attacked him directly, and while the Capture Styler's forcefield stopped the brunt of the attack, it did not block the radiation, and he collapsed and had to be hospitalized.  The terrorist and her legendary injured two other nearby people in a similar manner, one a fellow Ranger and the other a Trainer, but seeing that they were vastly outnumbered they escaped with Quantum Leap. 

 

This time however the authorities were on their tail, and with help from the Interpol the Rangers were able to track CURIE- they discovered that she was using the now-abandoned nuclear plant Zeta as a base of operations.  Reaching here there was almost impossible though, as the area was still heavily irradiated.  Scientists working with the region's Professor Lily Cypress had been constructing a special suit, one that would block out radiation completely (normal hazmat suits keep radioactive particles out of your body, but cannot block radiation itself and therefore wouldn't be good enough for this task), but they only had one.  They had also invented a modification for the Capture Styler that would allow it to work on Nuclear types- not entirely, as there was still no empathic transference, but enough to make the Pokemon calm down and fall asleep.

 

(The prototype "Hazard Suit".  Aside from blocking out radiation completely, it is also equipped with an air filtration system, a radio, a geolocator, an onboard AI, and of course a Geiger counter.  It can also allow the wearer to breathe underwater for a period of time)

 

So who would be the one to use it?  It couldn't be Kellyn, he was in no condition to confront CURIE and even if he was, it was already established that the Capture Styler wouldn't be as effective, even with this new nuclear modification.  It had to be a trainer... and Kellyn wanted it to be Vitor.  This may seem reckless, but something important to note is that before and during these events Vitor had been taking the League Challenge, and had already earned all 8 gym badges by this point.  "I know that you can do it, you've overcome every challenge in your path.  You've become a strong, brave independent person" he said, "I just want you to know... I'm so proud of you.  I couldn't have asked for a better child.  I just wish I'd been a better father...  I hope that I can make it up to you someday, after this is all done.  But for now, it's up to you to finish this."

 

Vitor accepted the mission and donned the Hazard Suit to enter the irradiated zone.  He was accompanied by a team of Rangers with their own protective gear and the newly modified Stylers, although said gear was of course not as strong and Vitor would have to enter the ruined plant Zeta alone.  Before reaching the plant though, the team made an important discovery:

 

 

A colony of another never-before-seen species of Pokemon named "Hazma".  This newly discovered Pokemon is naturally Nuclear type, and has the unique ability to absorb and feed off on nuclear radiation.  Despite the colony being deep within the irradiated zone, the area was completely radiation free, as they had absorbed it all.  The Rangers realized that by breeding more of these Pokemon, it would be possible to undo the ecological devastation CURIE had wrought, and made a point to bring several back to base.

 

CURIE still needed to be stopped though, and so the team continued on.  Eventually they reached the ruined power plant, and even though Vitor was the only one who's suit could withstand the radiation, a member of the team reportedly refused to fall back and stayed despite the conditions.  This led to him being captured by CURIE when Urayne suddenly appeared behind them, but despite this setback Vitor was still able to engage them in battle.  Despite Urayne's power as a legendary, he was able to damage it to the point where it reverted to a weaker form, although it and CURIE escaped with another Quantum Leap before his Pokemon could land the finishing blow.

 

Despite the escape, the mission was deemed a success.  The Rangers had already figured out how to track CURIE through the Quantum Leap and with Urayne in a weakened state, she would surely be caught soon.  The region was declared saved... perhaps prematurely.  Rangers began breeding Hazma and using them to "clean up" the irradiated zones, especially the farmlands of Route 8, thereby avoiding or at least mitigating the coming famine.  They also discovered that Hazma's ability could act as a "treatment" for nuclear Pokemon, reducing their internal radiation to a more "manageable" level and calming them down.  These newly treated Pokemon behave the same as any other individual of their respective species, including obeying orders when caught in Pokeballs and the Capture Styler working on them without the need of any special modification.  They still retain their Nuclear typing and abilities though, and to this day there doesn't seem to be any way to reverse that... not that the Rangers would want to anyway.  The discovery of Hazma and other naturally-Nuclear type Pokemon made Kellyn realize that the radiation had created an entirely new kind of ecosystem, one that he didn't want to wipe away entirely.  And so, he declared the area surrounding the ruined power plant a Nuclear-type wildlife preserve, famously saying "I hope that one day, people will look at nuclear Pokemon and see them not as a symbol of a man-made disaster, but of nature's ability to adapt and overcome whatever disaster man makes."  A fourth power plant began construction to replace Zeta (this time on another island, just in case), and repairs began on Epsilon, which wouldn't take nearly as long to complete this time with Hazma's help.  The region was still running on reserve power, however, as they couldn't risk reactivating the plants until CURIE was brought to justice.

 

Some time after the Zeta raid, the annual League Tournament rolled around.  Tandor's League is a bit different from most:  While it still has Gym Leaders and a Victory Road, it does not have an elite four.  Instead, every year they hold a tournament between the trainers who had earned all 8 badges, and the winner is declared Champion for that year.  This year's tournament had been delayed due to the disasters, but since the crisis was thought to have passed it was restarted.  Vitor of course entered, and made it undefeated all the way to the final match, where his opponent would have been his childhood friend and rival.  We say "would have been", because just before the battle could start, CURIE made her move.

 

 

The League Tournament is held in the volcano Mt. Actanite, home of the legendary Pokemon Actan who is said to be the source of the world's nuclear metals.  Normally Actan sleeps dormant in the heart of the mountain, but it unexpectedly emerged and attacked- and it clearly had been nuclearized.  Vitor was able to defeat it in battle, but this was only the precursor to what was to come.

 

 

It was later explained what had happened to cause Actan's unusual behavior:  CURIE and Urayne, somehow having evaded capture up to this point, had teleported into the heart of Mt. Actanite and began absorbing the nuclear metals that filled Actan's lair.  Actan itself tried to stop it, but being the father of nuclear metals made it especially susceptible to nuclearization (it's worth noting that despite what you may think, Actan is not naturally Nuclear type- it is Steel/Dark).  Urayne was able to overcharge Actan with radiation, inducing a nuclear mutation and allowing the CURIE interface to suppress its will.  The woman ordered Actan to attack the Tournament, partially out of spite but mostly as a distraction while Urayne finished absorbing the massive uranium vein- enough for it to reach its ultimate form.

 

With the appearance of this fully powered Urayne, the area began to flood with radiation.  Vitor luckily still had the Hazard Suit with him, so he was once again the only one who could stand up to the monster.  Actan, who had recovered from nuclearization after the battle prior, aided him and together they managed to defeat Urayne, causing it to lose all of its power.  The loss of connection with Urayne caused the CURIE interface to short circuit and fall apart, revealing who was behind the mask.

 

 

It was Lucille.  Understandably everyone was confused by this shocking revelation.  Not only did it not make sense how she could still be alive, let alone appearing to not have aged a day from her disappearance, but why would she have done all of this?  An Interpol agent who had been investigating the case was able to shed some light on the situation:  Lucille was one of the lead researchers on the secret U092 project, and worked on the it despite its illegality because she wanted to help the world by creating an unlimited energy source.  Through using the CURIE interface she developed a bond with the artificial Pokemon over time, giving it the nickname "Urayne" that it is now commonly known by.  The reason she ran deeper into the Espilon plant during its first meltdown was to save Urayne, but by then it was too late to leave, radiation was already flooding the area, and the pair's only option was to seal themselves away in a stasis pod that was used to incubate Urayne in its early stages of life.  It's worth noting that this form of stasis is not meant for creatures with a fully formed consciousness, and while it did its job of keeping the pair in suspended animation they were also semi-conscious the whole time.  Another person who had once been put in a pod like it, described it as "one of the worst experiences of my life".  On top of that she was wearing the CURIE interface the whole time, which had a theoretical risk of mental degradation over extremely prolonged use.  The Interpol agent theorized that being stuck in that state for a decade straight eroded her mind, causing her memory to deteriorate and driving her insane.  Urayne, mentally linked with her through the interface, had no choice but to partake in this madness.  When the pair finally awoke (possibly because the arrival of new nuclear metals to isle Epsilon somehow "reactivated" Urayne), she did all of this out of insanity... but also out of fear of losing her friend, for in her mind if the authorities found them they would surely destroy Urayne.  Additionally, Urayne's hunger for nuclear metals was apparently unbearable, and through the interface Lucille felt every bit of it.  This remains speculation, however, because when the CURIE interface was destroyed Lucille slipped into a coma from which she has not awoken to this day.

 

As for Urayne itself, it would likely have died when Vitor and Actan defeated it in battle, but Actan took pity and saved its life at the last moment by sharing some of its power:  giving Urayne a self-sustaining energy source so that it would no longer need to consume nuclear metals to survive, as well as the ability to communicate with humans through telepathy without the need for a special machine.  With no more need (or desire) to be a threat, Urayne asked the humans for forgiveness, and Vitor accepted and took it under his wing as its trainer.  The tournament's final match was never held, as Vitor's rival forfeited the match:  "I think he more than deserves to be Champion.  After all, it's thanks to him that we're all still here right now."  So Vitor was crowned Champion, and the Tandor nuclear crisis was finally over... as was Kellyn's career, because he stepped down as chief of the Tandor Rangers in order to look over his wife:  "I won't leave her side until she wakes up, and to be frank I've put my job before my family for too long.  Not anymore."

 

Current day

 

It's been two years since the conclusion of the Tandor nuclear crisis and Kellyn's resignation.  Vitor, now 15, has successfully defended his Champion title in both years' tournaments.  Power plant Omicron has been reactivated, Neo Epsilon has been repaired and also reactivated, and the new plant to replace Zeta (dubbed "Lambda") is nearing completion.  Nuclear type Pokemon are becoming more commonly used across the region, and the perception of them being "bad" or "diseased" seems to be dissipating as Kellyn had hoped.  There has even been talk of setting up a Nuclear-type 9th gym, but nothing has been made official yet.  Perhaps this time, the region as a whole faces a bright future... although the same can't necessarily be said for the retired Ranger.  Lucille has shown no signs of waking up from her coma, and doctors have been unable to do anything to help her.  Even if she did, it's unknown what "version" of Lucille she would be- would she be an insane psychopath like before, the original kindhearted Lucille, or someone completely different?  Either way she would still have to face justice for her crimes, and potentially faces a lifetime prison sentence.  Kellyn, now 47, mostly stays at home with her and has likely not been able to enjoy his retirement given the circumstances.  He has apparently developed a medical condition as a result of Urayne's attack from two years prior, although the details are scarce and he hasn't been seen publicly for some time.  He and Vitor have made efforts to reconnect with each other in the past two years, although reportedly they have started growing distant again for some reason- perhaps the strain of his and Lucille's conditions have been taking their toll.  It seems that Kellyn's story may be approaching a not-so-happy end, but regardless of what happens, he will likely always be remembered for all the people and Pokemon he'd helped as one of history's greatest Pokemon Rangers.

 

 

 

...As expected, this is mostly just public information.  I just wanted to make sure whether or not the details of my "medical condition" had been leaked, and it doesn't look like they have.  That part about the Nuclear-type gym is news to me, though.  That'd be nice to see.  I wonder who the gym leader would be if it actually happened... hey, come to think of it I'm a pretty strong Nuclear-type specialist myself now.  I'd probably be perfect for the job.  Heh, wouldn't that be something...

 

...No, no time to be daydreaming about something silly like that.  I need to get back to work.

 

Man, this series suddenly became weirdly relevant given the recent disaster in Ohio that's being called the "American Chernobyl".  It's not nuclear in nature, but we're looking at the same kind of ecological devastation there.  I wonder how many of you guys read that sentence, didn't know what I was talking about, looked it up, and are now like "WTF WHY DID I NOT HEAR ABOUT THIS UNTIL JUST NOW?!?!?!"

 

Because it makes certain politicians in power look bad.  That's why.