Yeah, you can. The power doesn't say, "You may use this power. Discard 1 card from your hand and remove 2 damage counters from 1 of your Pokemon", in which case you would have to do both. You can get rid of the card if you don't have any damage counters.
my thread, asking the same thing. the power says if you do, meaning you do the discarding first, then remove, or if there isn't anything to remove, just discard.
Okay, thanks. I have another question, if my opponent attacks with his Stormfront Cherrim that has 6 damage counters on it while I have a Rising Rivals Nidoking benched, is Cherrim knocked out or does it survive? Since his attack let him heal 20 damage from himself...