Kris (game)
- This article is about the female protagonist whose default name is クリス in the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal. For the male player character in Pokémon Crystal with the same Japanese name, see Ethan (game).
- Crystal (game) redirects here. For the game titled "Pokémon Crystal Version", see Pokémon Crystal Version.
| Kris クリス Kris | |
 Art from 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 Kris) is the female playable character in Pokémon Crystal. Her male counterpart is Ethan. She does not appear in any other core series game; in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, she is replaced by Lyra.
She was the first female player character in the core series games, 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 from New Bark Town, who is initially introduced to the world of Pokémon by Professor Oak. Her journey as a Pokémon Trainer begins when Professor Elm asks Kris'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 her first partner Pokémon: Cyndaquil, Totodile, or Chikorita. He registers his phone number in the Pokégear that was given to Kris by her mom before leaving her house.
When arriving at Mr. Pokémon's house, he presents her with the Mystery 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 is Silver, 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 the Johto 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 reaching Violet City, Kris must defeat the Gym Leader in order to leave southwards to Route 32. The city also presents Kris with the opportunity to climb the Sprout 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 City Gym Leader, Falkner, she can talk to an aide of Professor Elm in the city's Pokémon Center. He tells her that the Egg 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 the Azalea Gym or the Slowpoke Well east of the town. A local artisan named Kurt offers to create Kris some special Poké Balls, but says that it will have to wait, due to the presence of Team 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 the tails of Slowpoke, 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 a Lure 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 defeat Bugsy, though Silver will stop Kris if she attempts to head west to the Ilex 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 a Farfetch'd in the forest, she's soon able to progress in her journey to Goldenrod City, where she must face Whitney, the Goldenrod Gym leader. Although Kris makes Whitney cry for a short while upon her defeat, she is eventually handed the Plain Badge. Kris may also borrow a Bicycle from a new branch of Miracle Cycle in Goldenrod to help aid with their poor sales, where she is allowed to keep the Bike 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's Flower Shop, will prompt her sister to give Kris the Squirt Bottle, provided that she has defeated Whitney. This allows Kris to progress northward, deal with the tree blocking the path, and head to Ecruteak City.
If she visits the Pokémon Center there she'll bump into Bill, a Pokémon researcher that informs Kris about his newest invention, the Time Capsule. In order to defeat the Ecruteak City Gym Leader, Morty, Kris must enter the heart of the Burned Tower, where she runs into Silver. He battles her out of frustration that there are no Legendary Pokémon at the tower, chastising her after the floor collapses underneath Kris following her battle. It is underground that she discovers the three Legendary beasts lying dormant: Raikou, Entei and Suicune, the final of the three stopping in front of Kris before all escaping the basement of the tower. She is stopped by a man named Eusine 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 to Olivine and later Cianwood City in order to heal the Ampharos atop the Olivine Lighthouse, as well as defeating the Gym Leaders, Chuck and Jasmine. 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 on Pryce of the Mahogany Gym, but is barred from doing so until a Red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage has been calmed. After she calms the rampaging Gyarados, she meets a trainer named Lance, who asks for her co-operation in investigating why the Magikarp in the lake were being forced to evolve. She witnesses Lance attack the clerk of an unassuming shop within Mahogany 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 the Electrode powering the radio waves causing trouble in the area, Kris must then put a stop to Team Rocket's takeover at the Goldenrod 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 the Clear 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 the Wise Trio will battle Kris in succession to test her worthiness, before allowing her to progress to the Tin Tower. Raikou, Entei and Suicune wait at the base of the tower, where the first two will immediately leave to roam 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 the Rainbow Wing, allowing Kris to face Ho-Oh on the roof.
With the threat of Team Rocket gone, Clair has returned from her training at the Dragon's Den to stand as the final Gym Leader for Kris to face at the Blackthorn 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 the Rising 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 down Will, Koga, Bruno, and Karen of the Johto Elite Four, Kris once again encounters Lance, who reveals himself to be the Champion of the Johto region. 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 by Professor Oak and DJ Mary.
Upon being declared the Pokémon League Champion, Elm calls Kris to meet him at the lab. He presents her with an ticket to ride the S.S. Aqua, a boat that travels between Olivine City in the Johto region, and Vermilion City in the Kanto region. On the cruise, a gentleman 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 a Metal Coat, right as the boat docks in Vermilion City. With a Snorlax blocking the way to Diglett's Cave in the east, Kris's next objective is to defeat the Vermilion 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 crucial Machine Part for a generator in the Kanto Power Plant. When Kris is told of this, she encounters the thief at the Cerulean Gym, a lone Team Rocket Grunt from a different region that challenges her on the Nugget Bridge, who disappears upon hearing that the group has been disbanded. Learning that the Machine Part is in the water of the Cerulean City Gym, Kris retrieves it for the team at the Power Plant, where the manager thanks her by giving Kris his TM07 (Zap Cannon).
Now that electricity has been restored to the region, Kris can enter the Radio Tower found in Lavender Town to obtain the EXPN 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-service Magnet Train between Goldenrod City and Saffron City, but not before obtaining a Pass given by the Copycat in Saffron, in exchange for returning her Lost Item. Travelling northwards from Cerulean City now allows Kris to encounter Misty, 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, and Blue, who is initially encountered by Kris at Cinnabar Island, Kris heads for Mt. Silver, upon getting permission from Professor Oak in Pallet Town. Her journey comes to a close when she faces Pokémon Trainer Red deep within Silver Cave, where he has been training since shortly after he became Pokémon League Champion three years prior.
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
- Main article: Lyra
Although Kris does not formally appear in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, a counterpart of hers, Lyra, serves as the female player character, much in the same way that Kris does for Pokémon Crystal.
An unused Pokégear icon for Kris can be found in the game's data (
) suggesting that she was the playable design at some point.
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, 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 by Sugimori, Kris's hair is a deep teal with a blue tint, whereas in artwork for the GAME FREAK website, also drawn by Sugimori, it is completely dark blue. Her appearance in Pokémon 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 a Mobile 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 and Togepi 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 (alongside Ethan'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 the Bag menu when playing as Kris (
) is more like a wide rucksack, also matching none of the other interpretations. Her 3D model in Pokémon 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'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 the Pokégear 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 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 of Pokémon Stadium 2, battling Silver and his Ho-Oh with her Suicune.
Pokémon
 Suicune |
In the spin-off games
Pokémon Masters EX
- Main article: Kris (Masters)
Kris forms a sync pair with Totodile and its evolved forms Croconaw and Feraligatr, along with Suicune, and Jolteon in Pokémon Masters EX. Kris became a playable sync pair since the game's release.
In this game, Kris mentions that she encountered a Suicune in Johto, a reference to the one the player encounters in Pokémon 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 the Villain Arc. Unlike in the core series, both Kris and Lyra 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 | |
Gallery
Artwork
|
|
|
| Crystal art by Ken Sugimori |
GAME FREAK website art by Ken Sugimori | |
| ||
| Pokémon Masters EX Villain Arc Johto (Part 2) art by Megumi Mizutani[4] | ||
Sprites and models
|
|
|
|
| Sprite from Crystal |
Overworld sprite from Crystal |
Back sprite from Crystal |
Unused PokéGear icon from HeartGold and SoulSilver |
| |||
| Credits icon from Stadium 2 | |||
Quotes
- Main article: Kris (game)/Quotes
Optional names
| Japanese | English | French | German | Italian | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| クリス Kris チホ Chiho キヨミ Kiyomi サトコ Satoko |
KRIS AMANDA JUANA JODI |
CHRISTY SOPHIE NICOLE JEANNE |
KRISTA SINA MANDY TABITHA |
KRISTY GAIA CINZIA LUISA |
CRISTI MARÍA SUSANA YOLANDA |
Counterparts
In the anime
- Main article: Marina (Johto)
Marina, one of the main characters in The Legend of Thunder!, is the anime counterpart of Kris. In her debut, Marina is presented as a girl who dreams of becoming famous with the help of her Pokémon. In her later appearances, she was shown to be a talented Pokémon Coordinator, having won the Grand Festival to become a Top Coordinator. She is friends with Jimmy and Vincent.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
- Main article: Crystal (Adventures)
Crystal from Pokémon Adventures is based on Kris's design. She is unique among all Pokédex holders in the sense that her primary goal is to fill the Pokédex. She is an expert in catching Pokémon and prefers to kick the Poké Balls she uses instead of throwing them. During the HeartGold & SoulSilver arc, she involuntarily dons a new outfit based on Lyra's clothes, making her Lyra's Pokémon Adventures counterpart as well.
Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys
- Main article: Chris (Golden Boys)
Chris from Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys is based on Kris. She joins Gold as a traveling partner during his journey through Johto.
Trivia
- Kris is the first playable female character in Pokémon games, a feature included in all core series Pokémon games since. Despite this, the female choice in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver is Lyra, who was designed from scratch by Takao Unno.
- According to one source, this was because Takao Unno did not consult Ken Sugimori's original artwork before beginning Lyra's design [5].
- 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.
- Several pre-release screenshots for Pokémon Crystal show an earlier design for a female protagonist.
- Kris's alternate Japanese names would later be shared with Leaf, Dawn, and Lyra.
- When playing as Kris in Pokémon Crystal, entering the cable club changes the player's appearance into Ethan 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 in Pokémon Gold and Silver, this still occurs when two players using Pokémon Crystal link together.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | クリス Kurisu | From Pokémon Crystal |
| English | Kris | Same as her Japanese name |
| German | Krista | Similar to her Japanese name |
| Spanish | Cristi | Similar to her Japanese name |
| French | Christy | Similar to her Japanese name |
| Italian | Kristy | Similar to her Japanese name |
| Korean | 크리스 Keuriseu | Transcription of her Japanese name |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 克麗絲 / 克丽丝 Kèlìsī | Transcription of her Japanese name |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 克麗絲 Hāaklaihsī | Mandarin-based transcription of her Japanese name |
Terminology
In English, she was first specifically named Kris on the back of the American and Australian box of Pokémon Crystal. This boxart includes a Pokémon battle screenshot featuring Kris and an Unown, which is described as: "New female trainer Kris 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 for Nintendo 3DS Virtual 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 in Pokémon Masters EX, where she is known as Kris (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 the core series games, except in the list of suggested names in a new 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 a new game. In English, this suggested name was adapted as Chris for the boy and Kris 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匹のポケモンを選ぶと」 (Kris/Chris chooses 1 partner Pokémon and [...])
- English version of the manual:
- "After you choose your Pokémon [...]"
For comparison, her male counterpart is named Chris in several game screenshots from the English manual. He was later known as Ethan.
She is named Crystal in several game screenshots from Pokémon Crystal: Official Nintendo Player's Guide.
She also was named Clis (which is another possible romanization of her Japanese name) in at least two image files from Game Freak's Japanese website: CLIS.JPG and CLIS_2.JPG. Both images used to have their modification date listed as March 2, 2001, decades before her debut in Pokémon Masters EX.[6]
References
- ↑ Confirmed via RT by Cherami Leigh on Twitter
- ↑ Nintendo DREAM (vol. 329)
- ↑ "I was wondering if you could help me with it, KRIS. You see... I'm writing a paper to present at a conference. But there are some things I don't quite understand yet. So! I'd like you to raise a POKéMON that I recently caught."
- ↑ Tweet about illustrating the second Johto Villain Arc title screen
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20010303100537/http://www.gamefreak.co.jp/pokemon/GALLERY/
Related articles
| Player characters | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games. |
