For some reason this chapter took more time than I expected, but if you're reading this that means that it's finally out and I'm relieved, since that means that I can start writing the Serena vs Rosa chapter now. I also want to thank VoreMistress and falconadventurer for giving me ideas on what to do with Krystal. Also, yes HiddenLore. I actually make their teams with PokemonShowdown and I run the battles with SweeperCalc, so that's why battles normally take more time and effort to make. Fortunately, I already made Rosa's team so I don't have to worry about that next chapter. And good thinking with Silver. I actually didn't think of that, but good guess. Anyways, here you go:

Chapter 17: Crystal Clear

When Calem and Serena woke up to do their daily outfit routine, they noticed Gold, slumped over on the floor next to Krystal. He was asleep and snoring loudly with his head against the couch.

"What are you doing?" Calem woke him up lightly.

"Mmmmfgggarkno." He mumbled and struggled to look up at Calem.

"I was just checking on her and I fell asleep. Oops." He slowly got up and stretched. He still had the couch's mark imprinted on his face.

"Whatever. We're going to do our routine. Don't wake the others." Serena and Calem went for the door.

"'Aight." He headed for the Johto room. He slowly and quietly twisted the doorknob and tiptoed into bed.

"Don't think I didn't know." Laura's voice scared him for a sec, since he thought she was asleep.

Gold sighed. "Wouldn't you do the same?"

"No."

"Don't you remember what we all went through together?"

"I remember following you around while you had joyful adventures with Krystal and Silver." She responded coldly.

"You were right there with us!"

"I had a single non-starter pokemon and I never battled. It's amazing I got so far against Serena."

Gold sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to think before you act." Lyra got off and left the room without looking at him.

(About an hour later)

"Nate. Don't you even dare." Black stared at Nate, who already had a marker, a feather, and whipped cream.

Nate grunted "Fine." and he sat back down to eat. All the others were in their respective spots, finishing their breakfast.

"She should wake up in a moment." Leaf assured everybody. After they had finished eating, the Kanto and Johto Legends left the kitchen to look over Krystal. After a few minutes, they heard a low moan and saw Krystal open her eyes slightly.

"Kris?" Gold was the first to meet her.

"Gold." She croaked and gave him a weak smile.

"You're at HOPL. It's been a while."

"13 years, right?" Krystal chuckled, but Gold frowned.

"How did you know?"

"I'll explain later. Right now I need some water and I need to pee." She weakly got off the couch and went towards the kitchen.

"Oh hey Lyra." She waved at her before leaving the living room.

"Hey."

"SHE'S UP! THE ALIEN'S AWAKE!" Nate immediately jumped out of his seat when he saw Krystal.

"Calm down pineapple-head. I was here first." Kris nonchalantly filled herself a glass of water while all the others just stared at her.

"Aaah." She gulped down the cold water and noticed all the eyes on her. "I'll explain later if you stop staring at me. Leaf?"

"The hall bathroom's over there." She pointed at the end of the hallway, left of the kitchen.

"Thanks."

After she got out of the bathroom. everyone gathered at the living room to hear her story.

"Ahem." She looked at the 14 Legends around her.

"Ho-oh only grants wishes, it doesn't carry them out. So when I got Suicune in exchange for my best friend," She pointed at Gold. "Ho-oh sent me to Arceus, who put me in the Distortion World. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but Arceus didn't want to break Ho-oh's rule of equivalent exchange. We spent some time trying to convince each other to do what the other wanted, but it almost never worked. I wanted to go back to Johto, but Arceus, the god of all pokemon, didn't want to break the rules. Finally, I proposed a deal to him. I would be able to go to any alternate dimension, except the main world. Arceus agreed, but added that I would work for him for 13 years, just to separate me even more from the world. So, I worked for him doing different things for him for 13 years, and when I wasn't working, I was in the Distortion World. Sometimes he would change me into a pokemon to do some manual labor, and sometimes it would just be things like making me run for miles. He even asked me for advice sometimes, which is why Fairy-type even exists. You're welcome by the way. Anyways, I spent 13 years as Arceus' shape-shifting slave, but Arceus finally kept his side of the deal at the end. However, he made me run until I was completely exhausted before getting here so I was forced to stay here at least for one night and not leave immediately."

"Man." Gold shook his head. "You really missed out on a lot. What about your birthdays? You didn't party when you were 18? When you were 21?" Krystal solemnly shook her head at both questions.

"No. I spent my birthdays with pokemon. Transformed or no, those were the only company I had, so it was my only choice. I guess that's the price for stealing other people's pokemon."

"Anyways," She brushed some sand off her hair. "Enough about me. What happened to you guys while I was gone?" She looked at the Kanto and Johto Legends. "And Silver?"

Lyra and Gold looked at each other and then at the Kanto Legends, who shrugged.

"Well, we spent most of our days here, and Silver stayed at Johto to train. Either way, Rivals aren't allowed to be full members of HOPL. As you can see, we have a lot of newcomers, each pair from their own region. Well, Unova has two pairs, but whatever. Ruby and May, the Hoenn Legends, got here only a few months after you left. Lyra took your place as female Johto Legend, and Red and Leaf got married."

"Really?! Awesome! It's great to hear that HOPL continued to flourish after I left." She smiled. "You think Silver would like to know I'm back?"

"He'd love to." Lyra nodded. "Maybe we should invite him sometime." She looked over at Gold, who rolled his eyes and agreed.

"Sure."

"Nice. I'll go take a bath and you can fill me in on the details. One last thing though, where am I going to stay?"

"There's five more rooms upstairs. Choose one." Red pointed upwards.

"Alrighty then. I'll be right back."

Once she entered the bathroom and they were out of earshot Gold sighed.

Red frowned at him. "You're not going to tell her that-"

"No. At least not yet."

"I agree." Lyra nodded.

Another question! Yay! What do you think Gold and Lyra don't want to tell Krystal yet? And I'm still waiting to see where you guys want to see Serena end up in the ranks. I already know where Krystal is, but what about Serena? And do you think Serena and Krystal will battle each other? I'm trying to see what to do with Lyra now that Krystal's here and I really enjoyed writing Krystal's character. She's such a badass.

Remember to leave a review (It really helps me out a lot) and see you next chapter!