Queen of the Darkness

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909

QUARTERFINALS: KAREN OLEKE VS MICHAEL JONES

909

Karen stands on the podium, all of her pokemon ready and eager to go. A young man in his early twenties looks back at her from across the arena. His jeans, white shirt and jean vest all seem really casual and give him the air of someone who is easy to get along with. He, like Karen, has a hand on one of his pokeballs and is merely waiting for the official to start the match. The tension is mounting all around the stadium. There is no room for error at this stage.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE FIRST QUARTERFINAL MATCH! KAREN OLEKE VS MICHAEL JONES! LET THE MATCH BEGIN!" The official finally shouts. Karen releases Umbreon while Michael lets rip with another Eeveeloution. Karen doesn't recognize this one though. It is a two-tone blue color and seems to have what looks to Karen like two ponytails down the sides of its face. She learns its name very quickly.

"Glaceon, attack!" Michael cries.

"MOVE!" Karen shouts.

Both pokemon charge a Tackle at each other and end up knocking each other back. Umbreon comes up with a Faint Attack. Glaceon withstands the hit and its Mirror Coat sends the attack right back. Umbreon takes some major damage from that one, but she isn't willing to give up yet. Umbreon dodges Glaceon's Ice Fang and manages to pull off a Moonlight. As soon as the recovery move is complete she dodges Glaceon's Quick Attack and nails one of her own. Both pokemon are getting winded, but neither is willing to admit defeat just yet. Umbreon charges at Glaceon with a very strong Quick Attack. Glaceon is coming up with its own. Both connect head-on, and they knock each other out.

"DOUBLE KNOCK-OUT! BOTH TRAINERS DOWN ONE POKEMON!" The official announces. Karen recalls Umbreon while Michael takes back Glaceon. Taking a deep breath she releases Houndoom. Michael gives her a nod and releases a Flareon. Both pokemon take their positions and get into attack stances. The official signals the match to go on.

"MOVE!" Karen calls.

"GO!" Michael commands.

The two start off with Flamethrowers, which end up doing nothing. Houndoom races up with a Crunch attack that Flareon is just barely able to dodge. Flareon tries to land a Tackle, but Houndoom seems to be waiting for it and nails the Crunch. A Faint Attack finishes off the fire Eeveeloution. Karen can't help but split a wide grin. Michael grins right back as he releases a Vaporeon. Karen doesn't flinch. Neither does Houndoom.

Houndoom races right at Vaporeon trying to Crunch it, but has to dodge a Hydro Pump very quickly. Vaporeon lets loose a Rain Dance. It starts a heavy downpour in the arena. Karen can't see the field anymore because of the heavy rains. But she can hear the official calling Houndoom down. After another moment the rain lets up and Karen can see Houndoom. He is lying on his side completely drenched. Apparently the rain itself did it. How could a Rain Dance be that strong? Karen wonders. She recalls Houndoom. Hope he's all right… The official has called a time-out. Looking behind her she sees Nurse Joy coming up.

"I'll take Houndoom." Joy says. "I've never seen an aggressive Rain Dance…"

"Just make sure he's all right and you'll make me happy." Karen says handing her the pokeball. Joy gives her a smile and a nod and heads back down with Houndoom.

"All set up there?" the official calls up to Karen.

"Yes sir." Karen responds.

"Release the next pokemon!" Karen releases Vileplume with an evil grin.

"Aurora Beam!" Michael shouts.

"DODGE AND GO!" Karen commands.

Vileplume dodges the ice attack and nails a stun spore. Vaporeon is now a sitting duck for the Petal Dance that nails it. Vaporeon isn't down yet though. It manages to let loose another Aurora Beam. Vileplume isn't completely able to dodge this one. But she decides that since Vaporeon hurt her, it can heal her. The Giga Drain is a perfect hit. Vaporeon is down. Michael recalls it. Vileplume gives him a bow as she waits for the next pokemon. Michael grabs his pokeball and launches it. Karen gives a start at the pokemon that emerges.

It looks like someone turned an Eevee into a plant… she thinks. Vileplume gets into attack stance.

"Leafeon, Leaf Blade!" Michael shouts.

"Dodge and counter!" Karen responds.

Vileplume dodges the grass-type move and counters with an Acid attack. It hits, but doesn't do as much damage as Karen hoped it would. Both pokemon try Tackle attacks, but they only end up knocking each other back. Vileplume grins, then lets off a Sludge Bomb. Karen blinks, then decides to have a talk with her cousin about any other TMs he gave Vileplume. Meanwhile, the poison move has hit and gone critical. Leafeon is down. Michael is getting mad now. He throws his next pokeball so hard that if it didn't open in midair it probably would have smashed. The Espeon that is released gives him a dirty look. Then it looks at Vileplume. Vileplume is ready for battle. Espeon doesn't seem interested though. It lies down on the arena. After a few minutes of Michael's shouting however it reluctantly it gets into attack form.

"FRUSTRATION!" Michael shouts.

"Dodge and retaliate!" Karen calls.

The Frustration attack misses and hits Karen's podium. The force is almost enough to knock Karen over the railing. What in the world? That pokemon must HATE him… Breathing hard Karen is able to steady herself. But when she looks up she is just in time to see Vileplume become the next victim of the Frustration attack. Vileplume goes down. Karen is still trying to catch her breath. She is totally amazed that anyone would want that move. Karen grabs her next pokemon.

"Sneasel, be careful." She says releasing the ice pokemon. Sneasel comes onto the field claws ready. She grins at the Espeon, who for some reason has again decided to lie down.

"FRUSTRATION!" Michael yells again.

"DON'T LET THAT MOVE HIT!" Karen calls. Sneasel thwarts it with Detect, then launches the mother of all Faint Attacks. The ice pokemon is a moving blur repeatedly nailing each one until Espeon finally goes down. Michael is boiling mad now.

"Oh no you don't. I can play with Darks too." He says. An Umbreon is on the field a moment later. Sneasel is ready. The Umbreon just looks angry.

Not another one… Karen thinks.

"FRUSTRATION!" Michael calls. Karen doesn't need to say anything as Sneasel jumps up and slams Umbreon's head down. It looks like Sneasel is playing Leap-Frog. Umbreon comes back up quickly though, and tries to hit a Faint Attack. Sneasel answers with one of her own. Both pokemon collide. Both are slammed back. Sneasel is still on her feet. So is Umbreon. Racing up to Umbreon Sneasel bares her claws at a wide spread. The strong Slash is enough to take down Umbreon. Michael recalls it looking furious.

"WINNER, KAREN!" the official makes the announcement. Michael seems to take a deep breath, then grudgingly bows to Karen. Karen returns it. Michael then heads down and out of the arena. Karen heads out herself.

-0-0-

Pokemon Center

-0-0-

"Nurse Joy?" Karen enters the center. Joy comes out from the back. Houndoom trots out from behind the counter. Karen kneels down and hugs the big dog.

"He'll be fine. Just a bit too much at one time." Joy tells Karen.

"Thank you." Karen says. She sits for a few minutes just petting Houndoom.

"You are something else, you know that?" Karen turns around and sees Corin standing behind her.

"Why didn't you tell me you gave Vileplume the Sludge Bomb TM?" she asks. Corin shrugs.

"Mostly because I forgot." Her cousin replies. Karen chuckles. "Did you see the crowd?" he asks her.

"No, I was concentrating on the match," she says. "Why?" Corin smirks.

"So you didn't see the giant 'Elwane School Supports Karen, The True Trainer' banner?" he says. Karen stares at him. Her school was there?

"What the…" Karen starts, but Nurse Joy interrupts.

"You seem to be changing the town." Joy says. "Some people have reported that the traps around the town have been destroyed. And there is supposed to be a huge number of kids applying to be Trainers." Nurse Joy and Corin both smile at Karen.

"You're changing their minds." Corin says. "You're the first person in a long time they have wanted to follow. I hear the older adults there are still desperately trying to keep them from looking, but they are losing badly." He smiles, then pats Houndoom on the head. "You should be proud."

"I think I'm more scared than anything else." Karen says. Corin laughs. Then he grabs her hand. Houndoom pushes his nose into her other hand and gives her the sad eyes. Karen pets the big dog. "Want a treat, huh?" Houndoom's tail starts going at full speed. Corin laughs again.

"Come on. Party at grandma's." he says leading her and Houndoom out.