Kris (Japanese クリスKris) is the female counterpart to Ethan and is the female playable character in Pokémon Crystal. She is from New Bark Town. Her rival is Silver.
Kris meets a boy watching Elm's Lab from outside. When she tries to talk to him, the boy abruptly shoves her away. The boy, Silver, will become Kris's rival, analogous to Blue in Generation I.
Kris continues onward and finally meets Mr. Pokémon and completes her errand. While there she meets Professor Oak who, upon realizing Kris's bond with her new Pokémon, gives her a Pokédex. On her way back home, Kris again meets Silver, who has stolen one of Elm's remaining Pokémon. After defeating the boy in battle, she learns his name and relays it to the police in New Bark Town. Professor Elm allows Kris to keep the Pokémon she chose earlier, and encourages her to compete in the Johto League.
From there Kris begins on a Pokémon journey in the Johtoregion, facing off against its eight Gym Leaders, defeating and disbanding the newly reformed Team Rocket, and becoming Pokémon League Champion by defeating the Elite Four and its previous Champion, Lance at the Indigo Plateau. Along the way she also teaches Silver to respect Pokémon as living creatures and not just as tools for battle. Kris also uncovered the mystery of the Tin Tower and its legendary Pokémon, Entei, Suicune, and Raikou.
After being declared the Pokémon League Champion, Kris then takes a short trip on a ship, the S.S. Aqua, from Olivine City to Vermilion City in Kanto. Journeying across that region, she battles against its own set of eight Gym Leaders, including two new faces, Janine, who replaced her father Koga on his promotion to the Elite Four, and Blue, who was formerly Pokémon League Champion himself, and replaced Giovanni after the latter fled. Upon getting permission from Professor Oak in Pallet Town, Kris heads for Mt. Silver via Route 28. Her journey comes to a close when she faces the Champion from Pallet Town Pokémon Trainer Red deep in Mt. Silver Cave, who had been training there since shortly after he became Pokémon League Champion three years prior.
Kris, like the other in-game characters, has an anime counterpart in Marina. However, the two are not interchangeable and neither name applies to both, much like the case with Ash and Red.
Kris is the first playable female character in Pokémon games, a feature included in all traditional Pokémon RPGs since. Despite this, the female choice in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver is Lyra, who is viewed by most fans as a different character. File:BetaCrystal.pngBeta Kris
It is assumed by some fans that Kris and Lyra are one and the same, but this possibility has yet to be supported by an official source. Takao Unno revealed in an interview that he had designed Lyra from scratch, but that only sheds light on the characters' design differences.
A beta screenshot from Pokémon Crystal indicates that Kris had a different design at some point in the game's development.
