Crys—also known as Crystal—corresponds to the game version "Crystal," much like Gold and Silver match up with "Gold" and "Silver."
Rated by Professor Elm as someone with the gift of "Capture," she has a remarkable talent for catching Pokémon.
She even once caught the legendary trio of Ho-Oh—the embodiments of the North Wind, the beasts of lore: Suicune and the others.
But compared to a certain unreasonable dog, her skills were honestly not even close.
That guy started practicing Poké Ball throws at five, learned all there was about the different types of Poké Balls, knew which ball suited what Pokémon, studied weaknesses thoroughly, and even knew where to hit to boost catch rates.
And that legend of a guy... yeah. A whole different level.
What puzzled Caleb, though, was—wasn't Crystal supposed to be helping out at Professor Elm's lab?
When Crys spotted Caleb and Green, she waved enthusiastically. "Mr. Caleb! Miss Green! Over here!"
"Oh, it's Crystal." Green jogged up with a heavy backpack and two suitcases in tow. "Where's Professor Elm?"
Crys smiled softly and replied, "Professor Elm had to go out on some urgent business. He specifically asked me to come meet you in his place."
Then her gaze shifted to Green's massive luggage. A bit surprised, she asked, "Green, why'd you bring so much stuff this time?"
Green shot a glare back at Caleb. "Ask him…"
Crys noticed Caleb walking empty-handed behind her and greeted him, "Hi, I'm Crystal, but you can call me Crys. Nice to meet you."
...Caleb really wanted to fire back with a "How nice exactly?" just to see her flustered, but since this was their first meeting, he held back.
"Nice to meet you too. Just call me Caleb."
"By the way, where's Gold? He said last night he had a surprise waiting for me."
At that, a hint of awkwardness crossed Crys's face. She hesitated briefly before explaining:
"Well, we were supposed to go to the airport together, but he changed his mind last minute. Said a surprise isn't a surprise if it's not unexpected. So he told me to take you two to the Day Care first."
Honestly, Caleb was pretty curious about what a moving egg looked like—even though he already had one back home.
Goldenrod City—the biggest city in Johto—was as bustling and modern as Saffron in Kanto.
Also the birthplace of childhood trauma... that infamous Miltank.
The three of them strolled southward, gradually leaving behind the noise of the city.
The suburbs were a sharp contrast—lush trees everywhere, and in the distance, they could just make out the white fence surrounding the Day Care.
Thanks to the influence of the Viridian Force, Caleb had a natural affinity with forests.
Even the slightest rustling of the trees couldn't escape his ears.
Right now, he could even hear a bunch of Pidgey chatting nearby.
Pidgey 1: Hey, you heard? That Gardevoir on the mountain gave birth again.
Pidgey 2: Yeah, yeah, I heard too. What's that, like, her fifth litter? Tsk tsk.
Pidgey 3: Look at that human over there. Been crouched under that tree for half an hour without moving.
Pidgey 4: Are you crazy, talking about humans right to their face? What if he throws a Poké Ball and catches you?
Pidgey 3: Relax, he doesn't understand us.
Pidgey 4: Yeah, true.
Wait... someone's in the tree?
Prompted by the bird chatter, Caleb picked up on the rustling in the woods as well.
Crys seemed to sense it too and rubbed her forehead helplessly. "Don't tell me... Gold's trying to..."
Caleb scanned the surrounding forest.
Suddenly, a double-tailed Aipom gripping a pool cue flashed him a mischievous grin.
Using the cue stick as a springboard, it leapt straight toward Caleb.
Surprise Attack!
Thankfully, Caleb was already on alert after eavesdropping on the Pidgey. He had a Poké Ball ready in his hand.
Chansey popped out and positioned herself right in front of Caleb.
SMACK!
A loud slap echoed through the woods as Aibo landed a clean hit on Chansey's face.
Then, just as quickly, it bounced away on the cue stick and vanished into the forest.
Caleb's expression was... complicated.
An ambush, right from the get-go?
This was the "surprise" you were talking about, Gold?!
"Gold! Caleb's a guest of the professor, that was totally out of line!" Crys shouted into the woods.
Who the heck attacks someone before even saying hi?!
Look what you did—Chansey got... got... excited?
Maybe her face was just red from the slap. But why did she look... delighted?
"Well, it's Gold. Makes sense," Caleb reassured Crys. "Don't worry about it." After all, Gold was bold enough to challenge Professor Elm himself.
And hey, it was just a friendly, full-contact skirmish. No one's dying, right?
Crys didn't let it slide though—she reached into her satchel for a Poké Ball.
"I'll teach him a lesson myself."
But just as she was about to toss the ball, a Sudowoodo disguised as a tree launched a surprise punch.
Caleb was faster—he hurled Haunter's Poké Ball.
"Protect!"
A green shield flared up in front of Haunter, blocking the attack from Sudobo.
Green quickly pulled Crys aside.
"Alright, alright, let's not get in their way. I'm sure Gold knows what he's doing."
Yeah right. Green knew Gold too well.
He was pure chaos incarnate—no concept of pulling punches.
As for Caleb…
Green seriously suspected he was some kind of alien plant sent to destroy the human race from within.
Letting the two of them duke it out—no matter who won, the world probably came out ahead.
Back in the rustling forest, a Poké Ball launched through the air using the trajectory of a pool cue, landing beside Caleb.
Bang!
Sunflora popped out, its face blooming with radiant petals.
Wait, that's not Flash!
Caleb quickly realized he'd been tricked.
The blinding glow wasn't Flash—it was Sunny Day.
A glowing white orb ascended into the sky, like a miniature sun blazing in broad daylight.
Sunny Day: boosts Fire-type moves and weakens Water-types for the next five turns.
Then a cocky, goggle-wearing punk in a cap leapt down from the trees.
"Aibo, Swift! Sudobo, Rock Slide!"
Aibo hidden in the trees and Sudobo from before both launched their attacks at Caleb.
Chansey hurried to shield him.
"All attacks come at me!" she cried.
"Chaaaansey~"
Blinding starbursts and jagged rocks rained down on Chansey.
She let out a rare cry of pain... but that's all it was—a cry.
"She's that tanky?!" Gold muttered.
Alright then. Time to take her down first!
He smirked.
Sunflora returned to its Poké Ball in a flash of red light, replaced by a roaring Typhlosion.
Baton Pass!
The incoming Pokémon inherits all the stat boosts of the previous one.
While the others were attacking, Sunflora had sneakily used Growth.
And under Sunny Day? Growth gives +2 Attack, +2 Special Attack.
At the same time…
A supportive aura descended from the sky—Togekiss's Helping Hand landed on Exbo.
"It's over."
Seeing everything in place, Gold wiped his nose coolly and called out:
"Exbo, Flamethrower!"
"Bya-koooo!!"
With a deafening roar, Exbo erupted in a surge of overwhelming power.
Flames burst from its body, like a volcanic eruption—fierce and unstoppable.
Caleb stared at the towering column of fire before him, like a miniaturized sun, radiating blinding heat and light.
For some reason, in that moment, the image of his long-deceased great-grandmother appeared in his mind.
She smiled gently and beckoned to him, as if calling him to the next world.
Come on, dude. We don't even have beef! No need to go this hard!