Karen (Pokémon)

Karen (Japanese: カリン Karin) is a Master Dark-type Trainer and member of the Johto Elite Four.

In the games
In the Generation II and IV games, Karen is the fourth and final member of the Elite Four. She must be defeated before facing Lance, the Pokémon Champion.

Karen prefers Dark-type Pokémon because she likes the bad-boy image and dark power they portray.

Pokémon Adventures manga
Karen, along with Will, Green, Silver, Sham, and Carl, is one of the children kidnapped by the Masked Man and raised to be his servants. Karen was one of the leaders of the new Team Rocket formed in Johto. Unlike Silver and Green, she and Will were willing members of the evil man's cohorts, having been inducted as one of his followers at the age of eleven, and continuously trained. They expected a surefire victory against Green, which seemed feasible with Ho-Oh and Lugia under their command. However, with the resistance of Green and her friends Red and Blue each commanding one of the legendary birds of Kanto, and the help of many other Pokémon sent from all across Johto and Kanto, Ho-Oh and Lugia were freed. Karen then fled with Will.

After the Masked Man was defeated, Karen formed an alliance with Bruno, Will, and Koga; the four of them are all ex-members of various criminal organizations. They later reappear in the HeartGold & SoulSilver chapter as the new official Elite Four of Johto.

Trivia

 * Of the three current notable Dark-type specialists (Sidney, Grimsley and herself), she is the only one who is female.
 * Karen is the only Elite Four member in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver that uses more than one Pokémon that are not of her specialty type and have no moves of her specialty type, being Gengar and Vileplume.
 * In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Karen is the only member of the Elite Four who uses a different final Pokémon from the first match. In her case, she replaces Houndoom with Umbreon, though Houndoom is still present.