Kris (game)

Kris (Japanese:  Kris) is the female playable character in. Her male counterpart is.

She was the first female player character in the core series games, a feature that would be carried on in subsequent game releases.

As she only appears in, she has the fewest appearances by a player character in the core series. In, she is replaced by.

Storyline in the games
Kris's journey as a Pokémon Trainer begins when Professor Elm asks her to run an errand for Mr. Pokémon, who lives north of Cherrygrove City. Because she may encounter dangerous wild Pokémon along the way, Elm gives her a choice between three Pokémon to protect her:, , or.

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,, will become Kris's rival, analogous to 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 Johto region, 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 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,, , and.

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, 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. Her journey comes to a close when she faces the Champion from Pallet Town Pokémon Trainer deep in Mt. Silver Cave, who had been training there since shortly after he became Pokémon League Champion three years prior.

In the anime
, one of the main characters in The Legend of Thunder!, is the counterpart of Kris. In her debut, Marina is presented as a girl who dreams of becoming famous with the help of. In her latest appearances, she was shown to be a talented Pokémon Coordinator, having won the Grand Festival to become a Top Coordinator. She is friends with and Vincent.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
from the Pokémon Adventures manga 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.

In the Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys manga
🇬🇼 from the Golden Boys manga is based on Kris.

Trivia

 * 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 is, who was designed from scratch by Takao Unno.
 * However, an unused PokéGear icon in, resembling Kris rather than Lyra, suggests that this was decided at a later point of development.
 * Several pre-release screenshots for show an earlier design for a female protagonist.
 * Kris's alternate Japanese names would later be shared with, , and.
 * Kris is the only playable character in the core series to be exclusive to a solitary version.

Name origin
Kris does not have an official name due to her lack of name in the internal game data and the fact she does not appear as a non-player character. Instead, the name Kris comes from the back of the American Pokémon Crystal version's boxart. The name Kris is also the first default name.

Names
Krista Cristi Christy Kristy (gioco) クリス (ゲーム) 克丽丝