Okay, welcome to what will quite possibly be the only MangaQuest I will ever again write - an attempt at subjecting the pairing to some much-needed refutation of the distorted personality-images and tsundere-routine that the fandom broadly tends to favor.

Crystal was meant to be his girlfriend. It was just how the script was supposed to go. They were, after all, doing the love-hate routine that all the great couples did.

They would be even good for each-other - him the bad boy who helped the humorless workaholic learn to unwind, her the one who... well, he didn't really know how she could improve his personality. He was walking awesomeness, after all.

So, why wouldn't she let it happen? "Mind telling me how come?"

Crystal shot him an unamused glare. "Because, Gold, you are an asshole."

Gold smirked. "Yeah, but, come on, that's just me."

"Yes," answered the navy-haired teen, gesturing at him, "it is, and that's the problem. Your heart is in the right place, true, but that doesn't change the fact that you're an egotistical reckless ass who doesn't know the meaning of the word, discipline. It doesn't even compensate much for it."

She paused, for breath. Gold decided against rolling his eyes, expecting that she would just lecture him again if he spoke up.

"You may be one of my best friends," she admitted, her voice half-way between bemoaning and relishing the fact, "but I would be lying if I said I can always stand you and the things you do."

He shrugged, intending a placating gesture. "It's not really that bad, Super Serious Gal."

Her face immediately became a stern frown. "Remember the day we first met, when we were going to the Indigo Plateau?"

He inclined his head, eyebrows tilted. "Sure?"

"Because of you," she glared at the memory, "Exbo almost gave me third-degree burns that day. I could've been seriously injured, but you didn't care, because it didn't affect you," she poked his chest for emphasis. "In fact, if memory serves, you just acted like it was an awesome joke he had told you."

To her satisfaction, Gold had the good grace to look sheepish. "Uh, sorry?"

"And right after, like you were trying to add insult to injury," she ignored him, "you saddled me with your entrance fee, which you never paid me back for."

Well, Gold wisecracked mentally, that certainly didn't sound fair. "C'mon, that stuff was years ago."

"And that's another thing about you that drives me insane," glowered the teen. "Whenever people point out to you that you aren't as perfect as you think, or that you're doing something wrong, you just dismiss it. When it's me, you just tell me to 'chill out' or something like that, for instance."

Gold's smirk didn't waver. "Can ya blame me?" he pointed to himself, "Johto's hero, here."

Again, Crystal ignored him. "Remember the Battle Frontier? When we were supposed to be helping the other Pokedex Owners? You just went ahead and brought snacks to that battle, because you can't not think about yourself."

"Hey, I still helped out," objected Gold.

"That, you did," conceded Crystal. "But here's another fun memory from back then. When the water-monster was down, and we were all going to join that tournament, remember what you asked me?"

Gold simply looked clueless. "How's that important?"

"You asked," exposited the Pokedex Owner, with annoyance, "if I actually wanted to join, like that was somehow a surprise to you, so here's my next question: What do you actually know about me?"

Gold blinked. "One more time?"

"What's my favorite book?" supplied the teen. "What's my favorite movie? Where do I live? Where do I volunteer every few days? Where in my hometown do I like to hang out? What friends do I have that aren't the Pokedex owners or the professor? What do I do for fun? What kinda places do you think I would like to visit? That sort of stuff."

"Ummm," muttered Gold, beginning to pace around. Crystal folded her arms, watching him patiently. After about two minutes, he faced her again. "Okay, think I got it," he was sure of it. With SSG, he thought, there wasn't a lot of options. "Your favorite book's a science textbook and the movie's some boring documentary."

Crystal's glare remained constant. "It's the Discworld series and the first Star Wars. Now do the other questions."

Gold breathed a weary sigh. "Okay, so maybe," sighed the teen, "I don't know everything about you, but we can work on that. Just give me a chance."

"No, Gold, I won't," affirmed the raven-yet-blue-tinge-haired girl, sternly. "You're a mess of ego and unchecked behavior, and contrary to what you might've been taught by television, most women aren't attracted to that, myself included."

She paused a moment, before adding, "Now, while I could tell you to clean your act up before I'll even seriously consider the idea, that would be a seriously selfish thing of me to do."

Gold grinned. He could appreciate a girl who played hard to get. "So the answer's maybe?"

"The answer," she glared, "is and always will be no."