A Child's Best Nightmare


Kathy was ecstatic. Today her father promised to let her battle a pokemon for the first time. She had been looking forward to this day for a long time. She raced home from school as fast as she could run. She hoped it was a Dark pokemon. She loved all pokemon, but Dark pokemon in particular. She thought it was cool that they were so strong and mysterious.
When she finally got home, her father was waiting for her. They both got in the car and her drove her to where she would have her battle. She bounced eagerly in her seat and plagued her father with questions. Would she get to fight wild pokemon? Or a trainer? What kind of pokemon would she get to use? Her father just smiled and said "You'll see." to every question.
When they got to the place where they would have the battle, Kathy could hardly wait for the car to stop. Almost before her father had parked it, Kathy was out of her seat and out the door, waiting impatiently for her father to get out. As son as he did, she tore off toward the large building in from of them. Her father laughed and followed at a walk.
The building appeared to be a stadium of the sort often used for pokemon battling tournaments. Kathy dashed up to the double glass doors and yanked one open and went inside before she stopped and looked back at her father, waiting for him to get there. She was impatient that he was taking so long. Her father, perhaps seeing this, speeded up to a jog, and soon joined Kathy inside the stadium. Still excited, but no longer running, Kathy followed her father to a registration-type desk near the door. The secretary looked up from the computer she was typing on as they approached, and asked, "Can I help you?"
"My daughter, Kathy, is here for the pokemon battle I scheduled a few weeks ago." Kathy's father replied.
"Oh, OK, Mr. Oscuro has been waiting for you. Go down that hall, first door on the right" she said, pointing to a hallway. Then she went back to her typing. Kathy eagerly followed her father down the hall, through the second door on the right, and into the yard where she would be battling.
The yard was quite large, and fenced with what looked like sheets of steel, at least ten feet high, probably more. They were held together by double rows of thick metal bolts, and sturdy metal poles driven deep into the ground held the steel walls in place.
"Ah, there you are!" a voice hailed them. They turned toward the sound, and saw a man coming toward them from another side of the oval-shaped field. "I'm Mr. Oscuro. You must be Kathy," he called to her. "Now that you're here, we can get started," he said as he reached them. "Kathy, Your father has decided that you are old and smart enough to control a pokemon in battle, so he let you come here to try your luck. If you do well, you may want to seriously consider a job with pokemon when you grow up." He smiled at her. "But I'm sure you don't want to stand here and hear me talk for much longer." She happily smiled back at him. He pulled a remote out of his pocket, told Kathy and her father to stand back, and pressed a button.
A small door in the wall opened, and a rectangular self slid out. On it were seven pokeballs, one on the side near Mr. Oscuro, and six in a row on the side near Kathy. Mr. Oscuro picked up the pokeball near him.
"This pokeball contains the pokemon you will be battling," he told Kathy. "Now, then, shall we take a look?" he asked hypothetically, and tossed the pokeball into the center of the yard. It burst open with a flash of red light, releasing the horse-like pokemon inside.
It reminded Kathy of a Rapidash in that it was about the same shape, only slightly larger, it had a horn in the middle of it's forehead, and it's mane and tail were made of fire. But the horn was spiral and black, like a twist of obsidian. The hairs that covered it were also jet black. The flames that made up it's mane and tail were, instead of the bright orange-red of a Rapidash's, were a darker red, and almost be described as blood red. The eyes were also the same deep blood-red. Even thought it was in the middle of a clear yard, in full sun, it and the area around it seemed shadowed. Kathy found it fascinating. Next to Dark types, fire types were her favorite.
"Her name," Mr. Oscuro said, "is Nightmare." Kathy got the sort-of pun at once, knowing that a mare is a female horse. "She is a recently discovered evolution of Rapidash. We still don't know much about her. We haven't even had her battle yet. So you get to be one of the first to see her in action. You get to pick one of the pokemon in front of you to battle her."
Kathy looked at the pokeballs and asked, "What's in them?"
Mr. Oscuro shook his head and told her, "I can't tell you. A good Trainer, or anyone who works with pokemon, should be able to work with whatever pokemon they have to work with. You pick a pokemon at random and direct it as best you can." Kathy wondered if she would know the moves of the pokemon she chose. "All right, then." she replied.
Kathy put a hand out, paused a moment to decide, then grabbed the second pokeball from the right and turned to Nightmare. The unicorn was looking in Kathy's direction, first at her, then at the pokeball in her hand.
"Now, let it out, Kathy." Mr. Oscuro said. "Just toss the ball into the yard."
Kathy looked once more at the ball in her hand, then tossed it into the yard in front of Nightmare. The ball opened in another flare of red light, and a large, dog-like pokemon formed.
It was solidly built, and mostly black. It's tail had a small triangular spur at the end, and had two gray horns on it's head where ears would be on other dogs. It's muzzle and belly were dark red, and a gray stripe ran around it's neck like a collar. Three gray bands ran from the left side of it's back to the right, and each paw had a double band of gray above them.
What luck! Kathy thought. She had gotten her favorite pokemon. She knew a lot about the dog, and felt that luck was on her side.
"Smog attack!" Kathy called out not, wasting any time. Houndoom shot a cloud of thick green-black smoke out of his mouth in Nightmare's direction. Nightmare whinnied, then fired a large fireball out of her mouth, an Ember. The fireball burned a path of clear air through the Smog. Through the clear air, Nightmare aimed at Houndoom and shot another Ember. This time, the attack hit point-blank.
"Faint Attack!" Kathy yelled to Houndoom. The fire dog howled once and faded from sight. Nightmare shot more Embers randomly into the Smog, clearing more air with each fireball. Suddenly, Houndoom faded back into view, just in time to be seen crashing into Nightmare's side after a leap. As the two pokemon fell to the ground, Houndour leaped clear, and awaited his next order.
"Crunch!" Kathy told him, and he leaped forward to carry out the order. Nightmare had gotten back to her feet, and was waiting for Houndoom. Houndoom ran at her and bit down fiercely on one of her front legs. Nightmare screamed in pain, and reared up on her hind legs. Houndoom clung on like a Remoraid to an Mantine, until Nightmare began thrashing her front legs. Houndoom tried to cling on, or at least rip a chunk out of Nightmare's leg, but was shaken off by the unicorn's frantic thrashing. Immediately, Nightmare brought her front legs down on him, hard, a Stomp attack.
"Faint attack, quick!" Kathy shouted to Houndoom. He howled and disappeared from under Nightmare's hooves. Nightmare whinnied loudly, and also vanished. Kathy, surprised that Nightmare knew the move, could only glance around the yard until the two pokemon reappeared in the middle in a clash of black fur and fire. The two sprung apart and turned back toward each other.
Nightmare began running around fast, then faster, until she was little more than a black-and-red blur, and Agility attack. Houndoom, use Smog! Fill the stadium!" Kathy yelled. Houndoom released more smoke into the arena, creating a large cloud around himself. Now, whenever Nightmare moved through the Smog, you could see where she went, because there was a quick ripple in the smoke. "Now, take careful aim and use a Flamethrower!" He looked carefully at the ripples in the smoke, than shot a stream of flames into the smoke. It caught Nightmare right in the side. Nightmare kept running, but this time not quite as fast. Houndoom managed to catch Nightmare another time with a Flamethrower before she stopped and shot a Fire Spin at Houndoom. The fiery tornado picked up Houndoom, then traveled around the arena, burning off the smoke again before dispersing and dropping Houndoom from about 30 feet up. Houndoom, though, managed to land on his feet.
Before Houndoom could completely regain his balance, Nightmare charged forward at him, jumped into the air, and landed her Take Down on Houndoom's back with all four hooves. "Flamethrower!" Kathy called out. Houndoom turned and shot a Flamethrower over his shoulder, right into Nightmare's face. She jumped off Houndoom's back, shaking her head, and galloped away. Houndoom took the opportunity to scramble back to his feet.
"Crunch!" Kathy called out again. Houndoom dashed forward again, but this time bit down on one of Nightmare's hind legs with all his might. Nightmare looked over her shoulder at Houndoom and narrowed her eyes. Her hind leg began to glow, building up power. With a shriek, Nightmare kicked out the leg hard, dislodging Houndoom who smashed into the steel wall behind them. Before Kathy could call out a new attack, Nightmare turned around and pointed her horn at Houndoom. The obsidian spiral began spinning so fast it started to blur. Then Nightmare sprinted at her opponent and buried the whirling horn into her opponent's side, ending the match with her Horn Drill. Nightmare removed her horn from her unconscious opponent, and neighed victoriously, proclaiming to the world that she had won. Then she turned once more to Kathy and started straight at her. The emotion there was pure triumph, as if she were saying, 'Ha! I beat ya. Dare to try again?'
Kathy stared, for a moment. Then she lifted the pokeball, which had returned to her hand, and recalled Houndoom with a soft "Return!" Mr. Oscuro also returned Nightmare to her pokeball.
"Very good job!" he praised Kathy. "Until the end there, it looked like you were going to beat Nightmare." He held out his hand for his Houndoom, with Kathy gave back. 
Kathy heard clapping behind her. She turned around, and saw her father clapping. "Wonderful!" he told her. "You did great. Come on now, let's head home." She said good-bye to Mr. Oscuro, then walked over to her father, took his hand, and they left.

Epilogue:

It is a little less than a year later, on Kathy's birthday. She's unwrapping her presents, and has just been handed the last present, a small box. She reads the card on it: "Kathy, we know you'll have lots of fun with your new friend. Happy Birthday, dear. Love, Mom and Dad."
Kathy read the note again, curious. Then she looked at her parents, who smiled at her. Then she had an idea of what it might be, and, with a grin, eagerly tore off the wrapping paper and opened the small box to reveal a red-and-white ball a bit bigger than a tennis ball. "Don't let it out inside the house, now." Her mom told her. So she grabbed the pokeball and ran outside to her backyard, where she released the pokemon inside.
It came out in a flash of red light, which slowly materialized into a pokemon. It had a cream-colored coat, bright black eyes, and, most noticeably, a mane and tail made of orange-red flames. "Wow." Kathy breathed as she looked at her new Ponyta. It looked around a bit, examining it's surroundings, before it saw Kathy holding it's pokeball. It cocked it's head, as curious of her as she was of it, and took a few steps toward her.
"Here," her father said, and who had come up behind her. He handed her an apple. "Offer her this."
"Her?" Kathy asked. Her father smiled, and stepped back toward the door, where her mother and her friends also stood.
Suddenly a bit nervous, she turned back to the Ponyta and shyly held out the apple. "Here girl, want an apple?" She quietly asked. The Ponyta looked at the apple, stepped closer, sniffed it, then picked up the apple in her mouth and ate it. When she had finished the apple, she stepped closer to Kathy and sniffed her hand, which she had kept held out, and sniffed it to make sure there wasn't another apple there. Then she lifted her head and looked at Kathy face-to-face. Kathy hesitantly brought her hand up, paused, and stroked Ponyta's head, between the eyes. She continued petting her Ponyta as she thought about what the future might hold for her and her new friend. It might evolve into a Rapidash, and, eventually, into a Nightmare, just like the one she had battled about a year before.