Hey! I've got great timing because I wrote this after doing HOPL chap34 and I'll release it around same time, I think. It's a good time to talk about Krystal. Also, I won't be talking about Lyra because she doesn't have enough stuff to talk about and she's no longer considered a Legend. The rivals are an exception because they're all almost as good as a Legend. Lyra is not.

Here we go!

Daily Reminder: Due to Fanfiction's formatting system, the at sign before the item disappears, so if you're going to use it for Pokémon Showdown, remember to include it before every item.

Chapter 6: LiquidKrystal

Red's Notes: Marina Krystal. She has a story to tell. In fact, she is a story to tell. A true Legend. We were friends with her and Gold for a while before HOPL, so we know each other very well. Despite her absence, I can say I know Krystal more than I know Ruby, for example.
Krystal wasn't there when Gold went up to Mt. Silver. She was looking for Mewtwo at the time. When I first met her, I was with Leaf at Saffron City. It was a while after my first encounter with Gold, when I was back out into the world and Leaf and I were back together. I had previously received a call from Gold telling us to meet there. As I later learned, Gold had gone straight to Krystal after Mt. Silver to tell her about me. Predictably, she exploded and asked him yo call me.
So there we were, smack-dab in the middle of Saffron with our bags slung over our shoulders and our faces covered by our hats. We weren't as well-known back then, but we still hid ourselves as much as possible. In Kanto's biggest city, it was no surprise when people turned their heads as they walked around. We were still hiding when their heads suddenly turned away from us. We looked up to see Gold's colorful outfit and Krystal's ocean blue hair heading towards us. They both had huge grins on their faces as they ignored onlookers and sprinted to us.
"Hi I'm Kris!"
I had met Gold before, but he was awestruck and silent when we met. Kris had no hesitation and no shyness. Like Gold if he had no shame and didn't care what people thought of him.
"Uh, are you going to say anything, or?"
Now that I spend most of my time with 13 others it's not so bad, but back then I wasn't much for conversation. All that silent battling and all that solitary training in Mt. Silver had me out of practice.
"Hey."
Genius.
Krystal's frown was the sign for Leaf to intervene.
"I'm Leaf and that's Red. Nice to meet you."
Handshakes were had and it was Gold's turn to move.
"I'm Gold. It's been a while since we first met but we had stuff to deal with back in Johto so..."
Leaf nods and I look around at all of us.
"What are we doing here?" I finally say.
Gold and Krystal shrug.
"We wanted to meet you and get to know each other. We're not that different, after all."
I sigh and nod.
"What do you want to know?"
The Johto trainers glance at each other.
"Why were you in Mt. Silver?"
The TV show wasn't at the height of its popularity yet, so when people heard of the famous Kanto trainer, they thought of Red, the mysterious young champion. All that was known about me was rumors and legends, stories to be told. To these people, I was a myth, and they wanted to be friends with me.
After a few awkward meetings, we eventually grew to know each other as best friends. We were in the same boat, as boat no one else could be in. If you see me in the House, you know that I keep myself most of the time and I mostly don't come out of my shell. Well, as it turns out, that is me out of my shell. Compared to before meeting the Johto Legends, I'm a rock star. And I owe that to Krystal, the biggest extrovert I have ever seen. She also helped me grow comfortable around those like her. Otherwise, the House would be a hellhole for me.
Krystal is very dear to me, which is why I (along with Gold and Leaf) was devastated upon hearing of her demise. The world had lost a great person.
Then Lyra started coming in her place. I gave a her a chance at first. Thought she was just another childhood friend like Blue. However, after just a couple of days at the new HOPL with her I knew we weren't going to get along. She was my complete opposite. No love fro battling, optimist, extroverted, I had learned to avoid her. The Hoenn Legends were a saving grace for me, but I'll talk about those later.
What really confused me was that Gold liked her. After all that with Kris you're content with Lyra? Gold was my best friend but his girlfriend was my nemesis. Do you know how that is? I hated it because it made me fight with Gold. Before Lyra, the only fights we had were Pokémon battles and deciding which restaurant to go to. Now I was attacking his lover and he was attacking me. In the end, we just attacked our friendship. The most heated we ever got was before Lyra's tournament battle with Serena. That was when I knew we had gone too far. Something had to change. Luckily, I didn't have to do anything because Krystal appeared at the doorbell. I don't want to think about what would have happened if she didn't.
Anyways, when Krystal came back I was ecstatic, but I kept cool (which is super easy for me) so Gold could deal with it on his own. I know Gold. He needed it. If I had intervened things would have turned sour. I knew what was bound to happen, so I no longer quarrelled with Lyra or Gold. Even though I don't like her, I'll treat her like everyone else when she leaves. I'm mean, but I'm not that mean.
In the end, Krystal is as much my best friend as Gold and I owe her a lot.

Legendary Teams: Krystal's Team!

Krystal's Modern Team:

(anythinggoes)

Ditto Rocky Helmet
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Transform
- Transform
- Transform
- Transform

Suicune Wave Incense
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpA
Mild Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Aurora Beam
- Extreme Speed
- Iron Head

Houndoom (M) Black Glasses
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Nasty Plot
- Foul Play
- Overheat

Heracross-Mega (M) Heracronite
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Knock Off

Gliscor (F) Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 184 HP / 252 Atk / 72 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Facade

Celebi Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Recover
- Energy Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psychic

Krystal's Original Team:

(gen2ubers)

Ditty (Ditto) Leftovers
Bashful Nature
- Transform
- Transform
- Transform
- Transform

Lanturn (F) Mystic Water
Bashful Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Confuse Ray
- Ice Beam

Houndoom (M) Black Glasses
Bashful Nature
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Bomb
- Crunch
- Shadow Ball

Heracross (M) Black Belt
Bashful Nature
- Megahorn
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Earthquake

Gligar (F) Soft Sand
Bashful Nature
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
- Feint Attack
- Wing Attack

Megaree (Meganium) (F) Miracle Berry
Bashful Nature
- Solar Beam
- Return
- Sunny Day
- Synthesis

Kris' team was pretty fun to do because her team isn't the same as before. I know the other Legend's teams also changed but those weren't as drastic as these changes. She lost her starter. This, I think, was the most heart-breaking for her. I also got to use more Johto Pokémon, which are always fun. Obviously, the starter goes first. Because Gold has a Typhlosion and Silver has a Feraligatr, Kris has a Meganium. Next I chose Heracross because I love that Pokémon and I think Krystal would too. Specially its Mega-evolution. Then I chose Gligar because I think Krystal would find it super cute and its evolution super cool. Plus, you can't beat that typing. Poison Heal+Toxic Orb+Facade really helped too. Houndoom was chosen because it's Dark/Fire (two type covers) and it also fits Kris' theme. Lanturn was chosen for the same reasons as Gligar. Using Ditto is Kris' version of Gold having all his Pokémon with Dark Glasses, as she still finds it hilarious. However, this is not the same Ditto she had before. After her imprisonment, she left with only Gliscor, Heracross Houndoom, Suicune and Celebi. The Ditto was replaced.

Changes: Kris' team probably has the most changes. First, Megaree was replaced by Celebi, who has better stats and is also part-Psychic. Mega Heracross was chosen instead of Mega Houndoom because it's objectively better in its stats, its ability and its moves. Heracross' moves were changed to better suit his Mega-evolution. For example, Seismic Toss changed to Close Combat, Megahorn changed to Pin Missile and Earthquake changed to Rock Blast. Knock-off was used as a surprise to deal with items as well. Gligar evolved during her captivity so it didn't need the same moves to work correctly in a team. Feint Attack was replaced by Knock Off as a better Dark-type cover. Quick Attack was replaced by Facade because Gliscor is already pretty fast and is Toxic Orb will make it stronger. Earthquake was kept the same because Earthquake and Wing Attack was changed for Roost so it can recover health. It's not worth having a mediocre Flying-type move over a move that recovers 50% of your health. Houndoom's Crunch changed for Foul Play, which is an objectively better Dark-type move despite using the Attack stat over the Special Attack stat. Kris decided to have Nasty Plot instead of Sludge Bomb because it improves on Houndoom's already high SpA. Next, Lanturn was lost and replaced by Suicune. Finally Krystal's ditto was lost and replaced by another one.

Nicknames: The only two Pokémon in her teams with a nickname are Megaree and Ditty. Megaree because it's her starter and Ditty because she finds it hilarious. (Both were taken from the Adventures manga)

Writing Tidbits: I really like Krystal. From her looks alone I knew I'd like her a lot more than Lyra. Lyra was bland to me. I didn't see any personality traits in her. Krystal was cool. I mean, look at that hair. Plus, blue is my favorite color and her smirks told me she was just as arrogant and proud as Gold, if not more. However, I started with Lyra and taking her out completely would suck. My dilemma was: 'I love Kris, but I don't want to treat Lyra like shit.'
The idea to imprison her took some time. I had to find a reason she was replaced by Lyra in everything after the original gsc adventure. So I thought to use elements connected to her character. Those four were Suicune, Celebi, Lugia and Ho-oh. Which of those has the power to imprison her? Celebi and Ho-oh, thanks to his wishes. However, Celebi would never do that and Ho-oh was caught by Gold. I drew inspiration from the adventures manga, where she failed to catch Suicune multiple times and was confronted by Misty.
So the idea cam to me that Krystal's wish was to steal Misty's Suicune, but that came at a price, since Ho-oh's wishes aren't without consequence. This consequence was decreed by Arceus, god of all Pokémon. Arceus' judgement was that she lose what she gained. To lose her friends but not affect them, Krystal was cut off from their world. She also lost hald of her team, including her starter. However, she also gained a new friend: Celebi.
When she came back I had to stop talking about her and actually start writing her. This was suddenly an unforeseen obstacle, as I loved the concept of Kris, but I didn't really know what she was like. I based everything on her looks and her situation alone, which made her a bit OOC. It wasn't too bad, though. I think that by far my biggest problem was this love quadrilateral with Kris, Gold, Lyra and Silver. I had to write romance between them and I hate writing romance. I suck Ultra balls at it. I think others love to do it and it flows out of them like action flows out of me, but I have never been able to write romance. I mean, most Pokémon fanfics on this site are romance. Honestly if I could just pull one author out of all those and tell them to write a segment I would. Actually, I think it was one of the the reasons I stopped writing HOPL. I wasn't writing what I liked to write about anymore. I wasn't having fun. It was suddenly a chore. Now that I'm back, I fell much better about her.
She will always be an obstacle when writing, but I'll always love her.

P.S: The reason I write 'Krystal" and not 'Kris' or 'Crystal' is when I first wrote about her I took her name from the game (Kris) and assumed her full name was Krystal. Kind of like a mix between game and manga. I haven't changed since.

As I said earlier, I will always love Krystal, even when she's the main source of writing obstacles in HOPL.

See you next time, and please review! It means the world to me!