This article is about the female protagonist whose default name isクリス in the Japanese version ofPokémon Crystal. For the male player character inPokémon Crystal with the same Japanese name, seeEthan (game).

Crystal (game) redirects here. For the game titled "Pokémon Crystal Version", seePokémon Crystal Version.

Kris クリスCrys
Artwork fromPokémon Crystal
Age	Unknown
Gender	Female
Eye color	Blue
Hair color	Teal or Navy Blue
Hometown	New Bark Town
Region	Johto
Relatives	Mom
Trainer class	Pokémon Trainer,player character
Generation	II,VII,VIII,IX
Counterpart(s)	Kris (Masters)
Games	Crystal Stadium 2,Masters EX
English voice actor	Cherami Leigh[1](Masters EX)
Japanese voice actor	Kana Asumi[2](Masters EX)
Animated series	Pokémon the Series
Debut	The Legend of Thunder!
Counterpart(s)	Marina (Johto)
English voice actor	Kelly Davis
Japanese voice actor	Kazusa Murai
Manga series	Pokémon Adventures Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys
Counterpart(s)	Crystal (Adventures),Chris (Golden Boys)
Debut	Slugging It Out with Slugma(Adventures) Escape From The Mystery Forest!(GB)

Kris (Japanese:クリスCrys) is the female playable character inPokémon Crystal. Her male counterpart isEthan. She does not appear in any othercore series game; inPokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, she is replaced byLyra.

She was the first femaleplayer character in the core seriesgames, a feature that would be carried on in subsequent games.

In the core series games

Character and role

Pokémon Crystal

Kris is a young girl fromNew Bark Town, who is initially introduced to the world of Pokémon by Professor Oak. Her journey as aPokémon Trainer begins whenProfessor Elm asksKris's mother to forward an errand to her, which is to help raise a Pokémon that he recently caught in order to aid with his research.^[3] In the midst of their conversation, he receives an e-mail from a man named Mr. Pokémon, though Elm mentions that he's too busy to go himself. He suggests that Kris goes in his stead, presenting her with three Pokémon that could be herfirst partner Pokémon:Cyndaquil,Totodile, orChikorita. He registers his phone number in thePokégear that was given to Kris by her mom before leaving her house.

When arriving at Mr. Pokémon's house, he presents her with theMystery Egg, which was given to Mr. Pokémon by a couple who run a Pokémon Day-Care service.Professor Oak heard that Kris was running an errand for Elm, so he waited at Mr. Pokémon's house to meet her. Deeming that Kris seemed like a dependable person, he entrusts her with the latest version of his Pokédex, in order to properly catalogue and document Pokémon on her journey. Immediately after she departs, Professor Elm gives her a phonecall to tell her that something terrible has happened, and to get back to the laboratory as soon as possible. Upon returning to Cherrygrove City, she is stopped by a red-haired boy, who points out that she got a Pokémon from the lab, though seems weak. After introducing himself, he challenges Kris to her first battle with a Pokémon Trainer, bolting off after his defeat. As Kris returns to Elm's lab at New Bark Town, she is stopped by a police officer that explains the red-haired boy was the one that stole one of Professor Elm's Pokémon, and prompts her for the boy's name that he introduced himself with. This boy isSilver, which the game states is her rival.

Professor Elm is shocked by both Mr. Pokémon's discovery of the Mystery Egg, as well as Professor Oak's choice to entrust Kris with a Pokédex. He suggests she takes on theJohto League in order to become Champion, though notes that it is a long one, and that she should talk to her Mom before leaving. Upon reachingViolet City, Kris must defeat the Gym Leader in order to leave southwards toRoute 32. The city also presents Kris with the opportunity to climb theSprout Tower. If she does so, she can overhear Silver being chastised by Sage Li, the final opponent of the tower. He reprimands Silver for using his Pokémon as if they were tools of war, though Silver asserts to both Li and Kris that he only intends to use strong Pokémon, and that he won't lose to those that wish to befriend them. After Kris defeats the Violet CityGym Leader,Falkner, she can talk to an aide of Professor Elm in the city's Pokémon Center. He tells her that theEgg discovered by Mr. Pokémon will hatch when in the presence of other Pokémon, and that Kris is the only person they can rely on to do so. A group of shady individuals prevent Kris from entering theAzalea Gym or theSlowpoke Well east ofthe town. A local artisan namedKurt offers to create Kris some special Poké Balls, but says that it will have to wait, due to the presence ofTeam Rocket in the town; a sinister organization that disbanded three years prior to the events of the game. After catching wind that the group are cutting off thetails ofSlowpoke, he rushes past Kris to deal with the gang himself. The grunt guarding the top of the well takes off when confronted by Kurt, though Kris must now deal with the rest of the group herself, as Kurt is pained from tumbling down the well just moments ago. After she clears out the gang, Kurt escorts her out of the well, offering her aLure Ball when talked to again, with subsequent interactions prompting him to craft special Poké Balls across the span of a day, given Kris provides him with the Apricorns to make them.

Clearing out the gang also allows her to enter the Azalea Gym to defeatBugsy, though Silver will stop Kris if she attempts to head west to theIlex Forest. Before they battle, Silver doesn't believe that she defeated Team Rocket at the Slowpoke Well, though upon his defeat states that she only beat him because his own Pokémon were weak. He voices his detest of Team Rocket, warning Kris to stay out of his way, citing her as a distraction. After helping to herd aFarfetch'd in the forest, she's soon able to progress in her journey toGoldenrod City, where she must faceWhitney, theGoldenrod Gym leader. Although Kris makes Whitney cry for a short while upon her defeat, she is eventually handed thePlain Badge. Kris may also borrow a Bicycle from a new branch ofMiracle Cycle in Goldenrod to help aid with their poor sales, where she is allowed to keep theBike indefinitely soon thereafter. Kris must talk to a lady named Floria who stands near a strange tree blocking the way on Route 36, who, after following her back to Goldenrod'sFlower Shop, will prompt her sister to give Kris theSquirt Bottle, provided that she has defeated Whitney. This allows Kris to progress northward, deal withthe tree blocking the path, and head to Ecruteak City.

If she visits the Pokémon Center there she'll bump intoBill, a Pokémon researcher that informs Kris about his newest invention, theTime Capsule. In order to defeat theEcruteak City Gym Leader,Morty, Kris must enter the heart of theBurned Tower, where she runs into Silver. He battles her out of frustration that there are noLegendary Pokémon at the tower, chastising her after the floor collapses underneath Kris following her battle. It is underground that she discovers the threeLegendary beasts lying dormant:Raikou,Entei, andSuicune, the final of the three stopping in front of Kris before all escaping the basement of the tower. She is stopped by a man namedEusine on the way upwards, who dug a hole to get to the basement floor. He thanks her for allowing him to see Suicune with his own eyes after ten years of searching, and vows to chase it across the region in hopes of meeting it again someday.

Kris may head westwards toOlivine and laterCianwood City in order to heal theAmpharos atop theOlivine Lighthouse, as well as defeating the Gym Leaders,Chuck andJasmine. Silver appears again in Olivine City to criticize Jasmine's choice to care for the sick Ampharos, telling Kris that a Pokémon who can't fight is worthless. Kris may also head eastwards to take onPryce of theMahogany Gym, but is barred from doing so until aRed Gyarados at theLake of Rage has been calmed. After she calms the rampaging Gyarados, she meets a trainer namedLance, who asks for her co-operation in investigating why theMagikarp in the lake were being forced to evolve. She witnesses Lance attack the clerk of an unassuming shop withinMahogany Town, where he prompts her to follow him past a hidden staircase, leading to Team Rocket's HQ. Here she encounters Silver, who tells her that he tried to battle Lance and was absolutely demolished, where he further berated the boy for his callous approach to training Pokémon. After Kris and Lance defeat the executives at the HQ and free theElectrode powering the radio waves causing trouble in the area, Kris must then put a stop to Team Rocket's takeover at theGoldenrod Radio Tower, where they attempt to leverage the radio system in order to plead their previous leader,Giovanni, to return. In doing so, Kris is stopped yet again by Silver, admitting he was tailing her so he could defeat Team Rocket himself. Following his defeat, Silver acknowledges Lance's harsh words to him at the Rocket HQ and leaves, vowing to continue his dream of becoming the strongest Pokémon Trainer. This leaves it up to Kris to defeat the executives at the top of the tower, effectively disbanding the organization for the final time.

After defeating Team Rocket once and for all atop the Radio Tower, the director will give Kris theClear Bell. Initially stopped by a Sage that moves to block her entry, this allows Kris to visit the Ecruteak City Barrier Station. Three sages known as theWise Trio will battle Kris in succession to test her worthiness, before allowing her to progress to theTin Tower.Raikou,Entei andSuicune wait at the base of the tower, where the first two will immediately leave toroam the Johto region upon Kris's arrival. Suicune will then immediately confront her with a battle, though it may be spotted in other areas prior to this, such as Cianwood City or Route 36, jumping away whenever interacted with. After all three have been caught, and provided Kris has been registered in the Hall of Fame, a Sage in the Tin Tower will entrust her with theRainbow Wing, allowing Kris to faceHo-Oh on the roof.

With the threat of Team Rocket gone,Clair has returned from her training at theDragon's Den to stand as the final Gym Leader for Kris to face at theBlackthorn Gym, though her victory is prevented due to Clair's insistence that Kris must travel to the inside of the Den in order to prove her worth. After Kris clears the test set by those at the heart of the Dragon's Den, Clair begrudgingly presents her with theRising Badge, allowing Kris full access to take on the Pokémon League east of New Bark Town and past Victory Road. There she meets Silver for one final battle, who tells her to keep at it upon his defeat, fully recognizing the words that Lance had told him prior. Facing downWill,Koga,Bruno, andKaren of the JohtoElite Four, Kris once again encounters Lance, who reveals himself to be theChampion of the Johtoregion. Fully expecting her to arrive, they do battle, where Kris triumphs and immortalizes her victory in the Hall of Fame; though not before being congratulated byProfessor Oak andDJ Mary.

Upon being declared the Pokémon League Champion, Elm calls Kris to meet him at the lab. He presents her with anticket to ride theS.S. Aqua, a boat that travels between Olivine City in the Johto region, andVermilion City in theKanto region. On the cruise, agentleman bumps into Kris and pleads with her to help find his missing granddaughter, who he has lost on the boat. Upon finding her in the captain's quarters, Kris brings the girl back to her grandfather, who thanks her by giving Kris aMetal Coat, right as the boat docks in Vermilion City. With aSnorlax blocking the way toDiglett's Cave in the east, Kris's next objective is to defeat theVermilion Gym and it's leader,Lt. Surge, who is easier to get to than usual due to a large power outage. This is as a result of a thief that stole a crucialMachine Part for a generator in theKanto Power Plant. When Kris is told of this, she encounters the thief at theCerulean Gym, a lone Team Rocket Grunt from a different region that challenges her on theNugget Bridge, who disappears upon hearing that the group has been disbanded. Learning that the Machine Part is in the water of theCerulean City Gym, Kris retrieves it for the team at the Power Plant, where the manager thanks her by giving Kris hisTM07 (Zap Cannon).

Now that electricity has been restored to the region, Kris can enter the Radio Tower found inLavender Town to obtain theEXPN Card, where she can tune into Kanto's radio frequencies on her Pokégear. One of these allows her to wake up the Snorlax in front of Diglett's Cave, facilitating passage to the rest of Kanto. This act also enables Kris to board the now in-serviceMagnet Train between Goldenrod City andSaffron City, but not before obtaining a Pass given by theCopycat in Saffron, in exchange for returning herLost Item. Travelling northwards from Cerulean City now allows Kris to encounterMisty, who refers to her as a pest for disrupting her date, challenging her to a battle at her gym in Cerulean. Following the defeat of the rest of Kanto's Gym Leaders,Erika,Janine,Blaine,Brock,Sabrina, andBlue, who is initially encountered by Kris atCinnabar Island, Kris heads forMt. Silver, upon getting permission fromProfessor Oak inPallet Town. Her journey comes to a close when she faces Pokémon TrainerRed deep withinSilver Cave, where he has been training since shortly after he became Pokémon League Championthree years prior.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Kris does not appear inPokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, being replaced as the female player character byLyra. However, an unused Pokégear icon for Kris is present in the game's data ().

Appearance

Whilst her age is unknown, Kris is a young girl with teal-colored hair and eyes. Kris's hair has a slight fringe towards the edges of her face, featuring two large ponytails that protrude away and behind her head in a straight fashion, and then curve perpendicularly upwards towards her face, passing in front of her ears. The part where her hair bends at an angle is held together by two small red hairbands, one on each ponytail. In her artwork for Pokémon Crystal drawn bySugimori, Kris's hair is a deep teal with a blue tint, whereas in artwork for theGAME FREAK website, also drawn by Sugimori, it is completely dark blue. Her appearance inPokémon Masters EX once again features teal-colored hair, but now with a green tint. Atop her head is a small yellow cap with a white rim. She wears a long, cropped jacket atop a red shirt that runs past her neck, which has a strap holding a pink Pokégear. The design of this Pokégear completely changes in a specific sketch for the GAME FREAK website by Sugimori, closer resembling aMobile Game Boy Adapter than any Pokégear design in the series whilst maintaining the usual pink and red color. Beneath, Kris wears a pair of yellow cycling shorts, which feature a black stripe that runs across the bottom to the outer side of her waist in an L-shape on both sides. Kris's shoes are large white sneakers with a teal underside, featuring a Poké Ball-shaped pattern when viewed from above.

In all depictions, Kris has a pink bag, but it is depicted drastically different across all forms of media. In her initial artwork for Pokémon Crystal, although partially obscured, the bag is a completely rounded egg-like shape and features pink rivets, a stark contrast to the artwork that shows her walking forwards where the bag has notable bumps on the bottom, featuring a pink zipper. Artwork by Sugimori for the GAME FREAK website featuring Kris andTogepi shows her bag as a rectangle-shaped one with golden rivets, and a yellow zipper with a circular shape at the outer end. The individual art for Kris's bag (alongsideEthan's) maintains the both the golden rivets and the egg-like shape, though features a slightly different zipper to any past artwork. The in-game sprite used in theBag menu when playing as Kris () is more like a wide rucksack, also matching none of the other interpretations. Her 3D model inPokémon Masters EX uses a yet another completely different design for the bag when compared to all other interpretations, with a less rounded shape, no rivets, no middle pockets (used for storing Poké Balls in Crystal) and a completely different top half that opens up with a fastener, as opposed to a zipper that wraps around the center of the bag.

• 
  Kris inMasters EX
• 
  Art of Kris from the GAME FREAK website
• 
  Art of Kris withTogepi from the GAME FREAK website
• 
  Art of Kris andEthan's bags fromCrystal
• 
  Kris's bag inMasters EX

Kris's in-game assets differ drastically from her artwork as a result of palette restrictions. Her yellow hat and shorts are shown as white, and all of the red color seen on her design is shown as black. No sprite depicts her with thePokégear around her neck or bag on her back. Kris's hat appears entirely beige on her back sprite, as opposed to yellow and white. Additionally, Kris's hair is also a different shade than in her artwork, going from a teal to a cool blue, a difference further exacerbated when Pokémon Crystal is played on screens that depict uncorrected colors.

System model differences
Corrected	Uncorrected

In the side series games

Pokémon Stadium 2

Kris makes a cameo appearance during the end credits ofPokémon Stadium 2, battlingSilver and hisHo-Oh with herSuicune.

Pokémon

Suicune

In the spin-off games

Pokémon Masters EX

Main article:Kris (Masters)

Kris forms async pair withTotodile and its evolved formsCroconaw andFeraligatr, along withSuicune,Jolteon, andIgglybuff inPokémon Masters EX. Kris became a playable sync pair since the game's release.

In this game, Kris mentions that she encountered a Suicune inJohto, a reference to the one theplayer encounters inPokémon Crystal. However, the Suicune she has in this game isn't the same one she encountered in Johto. Kris has also made notable appearances in the game's Main Stories,Legendary Adventures and theVillain Arc. Unlike in thecore series, especially Pokémon Crystal, both Kris,Ethan andLyra coexist in the same game.

Dex	Trainer		NDex	Pokémon		Type	Weakness	Role	EX role	Base potential	Availability
#010		Kris	#0160		Totodile → Croconaw → Feraligatr♀	Water	Grass			★★★★★☆EX	Sync Pair Scout
#010		Sygna Suit Kris	#0245		Suicune	Water	Grass			★★★★★☆EX	Master Fair Sync Pair Scout
#010		Kris	#0135		Jolteon♀	Electric	Ground			★★★★★☆EX	Variety Sync Pair Scout
#010		Academy Kris	#0174		Igglybuff♀	Fairy	Poison			★★★★★☆EX	Academy Event Art Agony, Teacher's Tears

Quotes

Main article:Kris (game)/Quotes

Counterparts

In animation

Main article:Marina (Johto)

Marina, one of the main characters inThe Legend of Thunder!, is theanimation counterpart of Kris. In her debut, Marina is presented as a girl who dreams of becoming famous with the help ofher Pokémon, which she receives herfirst Pokémon from Professor Elm with her friends,the counterpart of Ethan andVincent. In her later appearances, she was shown to be a talentedPokémon Coordinator, having won theGrand Festival to become aTop Coordinator.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Main article:Crystal (Adventures)

Crystal fromPokémon Adventures is based on Kris's design. She is unique among allPokédex holders in the sense that her primary goal is to fill thePokédex, getting hired to do so byProfessor Oak and becoming hisassistant. She is an expert incatching Pokémon and prefers to kick thePoké Balls she uses instead of throwing them. During theHeartGold & SoulSilver arc, she involuntarily dons a new outfit based onLyra's clothes, making her Lyra's Pokémon Adventures counterpart as well.

Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys

Main article:Chris (Golden Boys)

Chris fromPokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys is based on Kris. She joinsGold as a traveling partner during hisjourney throughJohto.

Gallery

For images onKris inPokémon Masters EX, see:Kris (Masters)

Artwork

Art fromCrystal byKen Sugimori	GAME FREAK website art byKen Sugimori

Game assets

In thecore series

Generation II
C  Sprite	C  Sprite (Back)	C  Sprite (Overworld)
Generation IV
HG  SS  Sprite (Pokégear,Unused)

Inother games

Generation II

Stadium 2 Icon

Trivia

• Kris is the first playable female character inPokémon games, a feature included in allcore series Pokémon games since. Despite this, the female choice inPokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver isLyra, who was designed from scratch byTakao Unno.
  • According to one source, this was because Takao Unno did not consult Ken Sugimori's original artwork before beginning Lyra's design^[4].
  • However, an unused PokéGear icon in HeartGold and SoulSilver, resembling Kris rather than Lyra, suggests that this was decided at a later point of development.
• Severalpre-release screenshots forPokémon Crystal show an earlier design for a female protagonist.
• Kris's alternate Japanese names would later be shared withLeaf,Dawn, andLyra.
• When playing as Kris inPokémon Crystal, entering thecable club changes the player's appearance intoEthan and leaving changes the player's appearance back into Kris. While the reasoning could be to maintain visual consistency between players of different versions when in the cable club, as Kris's sprite assets do not exist inPokémon Gold and Silver, this still occurs when two players usingPokémon Crystal link together.

Names

In English, she was first specifically namedKris on the back of the American and Australian box of Pokémon Crystal. This boxart includes aPokémon battle screenshot featuring Kris and anUnown, which is described as:"New female trainerKris faces the Unown." In the Japanese version of this boxart, this battle screenshot is not present and her name is not mentioned. In the American release of this game forNintendo 3DSVirtual Console, her name does not appear on the boxart even though the Kris vs. Unown battle screenshot is present (this time with no text description).

Upon the game's release in 2019, she became available inPokémon Masters EX, where she is known asKris (Japanese:クリス). This was the first time she was named in-game, 19 years after her debut in Pokémon Crystal. She has never been named in thecore series games, except in thelist of suggested names in anew game.

In the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal,クリス is a name equally suggested for both the male and female player characters in anew game. In English, this suggested name was adapted asChris for the boy andKris for the girl.

In the player's story from the Japanese manual, the nameクリス simultaneously refers to either player character. However, this was adapted as "you" instead in the English version. For instance:

• Japanese version of the manual:

  「クリスはパートナーとなる1匹(ぴき)のポケモンを選(えら)ぶと」 (Kris/Chris chooses 1 partner Pokémon and [...])

• English version of the manual:

  "Afteryou choose your Pokémon [...]"

For comparison, her male counterpart is namedChris in several game screenshots from the English manual. He was later known asEthan.

She is namedCrystal in several game screenshots fromPokémon Crystal: Official Nintendo Player's Guide.

She also was namedClis (which is another possible romanization of her Japanese name) in at least two image files from Game Freak's Japanese website:CLIS.JPG andCLIS_2.JPG. Both images used to have their modification date listed as March 2, 2001, decades before her debut in Pokémon Masters EX.^[5] Her name was spelledCrys on the packaging ofPokémon Scale World Johto Region 2 Set.

Optional names

References

Related articles

This game character article is part ofProject CharacterDex, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in thePokémon games.

• Characters
• Female characters
• Animation characters
• Manga characters
• Game characters
• Playable characters
• Gold, Silver and Crystal characters
• Stadium 2 characters
• Champions
• Trainers with Legendary Pokémon