Crystal did a few modeling jobs in the downtime before the Indigo Conference, and despite her protests, returned with an entourage of bodyguards and an assistant. Her agency had been spooked by her rabid stans and insisted, due to concerns of her safety. Not much she could do about that—and at the very least it seemed to leave an impression on people (even if it wasn’t exaclty the impression she wanted to leave).
Of course, like all of the League participants, Crystal was present for the attack by Team Rocket during the opening ceremony. Crystal actually played a fairly large role in the fight, working alongside a handful of other competitors to fight not only the brunt of the grunts but also a handful of Rocket Executives. Crystal would actually fight Rocket Exec Athena one on one. Crystal won the bout, but Athena refused to yield. Instead she pulled a knife and ran at Crystal—-only for Crystal to knock the criminal out with a single, swift kick to the head.
When the Smokescreen came, Crystal was among the eleven trainers who saved the stadium and drove the Rockets off for good.
After doing her good deed, Crystal got even more press and attention. It was actually pretty overwhelming; even everything up to now was small potatoes compared to now. She received numerous interview requests, her DMs were being flooded, her follower count only rose. Online, some of the more “serious” armchair commentators didn’t think very highly of Crystal; a pretty face with a nice body, but “nothing under the hood”. Others claimed her to be clout-chasing and others still said that she was “the popular girl from high school that was a big fish back home but is about to have a rude awakening in the real world”. Most projected she wouldn’t even make the Top 32. Despite the sheer volume of the noise around her, Crystal did her best to tune it all out and focus on winning
Crystal was thrilled when Elesa, Tania, and two of her old roommates from Saffron arrived to cheer her on. Crystal also flew her parents and her grandmother out to spectate, even getting them VIP Box Seats. They hadn’t been able to afford tickets when she got here the first time, but Crystal was determined for them to be here to see her win.
As the battles started, She showed her skill in full force, defeating opponent after opponent. After several days of grueling battles, she did what she hadn’t been able to do the first time and made it to the Top 32.
Among her fellow Top 32 competitors, Crystal was probably one of those most at ease with the press coverage and interviews. Support continued to pour in for her as the commentators were forced to re-evaluate their projections.
Finally, the day came. She faced her first opponent for the Top 32—-Will Tahjiri. The guy was definitely good (he’d made it to the Top 32 after all) but Crystal played things better and came at the bout with a better strategy. Crystal won and only lost one Pokemon in the fight.
In the Top 16, Crystal faced another celebrity: Joe, the Internet Sensation! Joe was a surprisingly tough opponent, as he was rather unpredictable with his unorthodox strategies. However, unpredictable doesn’t mean unbeatable! Crystal ended up having to brute force her way through the bout and Joe wasn’t able to adapt in time.
Crystal was in the Top 8! Oh, she felt on top of the world! After another round of interviews and an appearance with the other Top 8 on a televised interview she faced her next opponent: Michelle “Mikki” Hansen. Crystal knew the girl was good and heard people talking about her.
As they fought, they found themselves fairly evenly matched at first. As the match went on, though, Mikki proved to be quicker and stronger. The girl was hungry and eager with a chip on her shoulder; she had something to prove. It reminded Crystal of herself. She didn’t pull any punches, but even though she ultimately lost, she didn’t mind so much that she lost to Mikki Hansen.
“Good job out there, Mikki. You’re really good!” Crystal told her after the bout, as they shook hands in front of a roaring crowd. “But now you have to do something for me: since you’re the one who beat me, you’re not allowed to lose. Deal?”
Crystal giggled and Mikki very seriously promised Crystal that she didn’t plan on losing. Mikki went on to win the entire Conference, and nobody was cheering louder than Crystal and her family.
