>>34128712>the elite 4That doesn't mean too much. Each region has their own Elite 4, and Japan looks like it fits about 10. The US is about 30x bigger than the size of japan, so we're looking at maybe 300ish regions there, and thousands more worldwide.
If every single region in the world had a pokemon league, Karen is probably 1 out of 200,000 elite 4 members. Being part of an Elite 4 is basically a full time job because you have to be ready to battle an upcoming champion at any time, which eliminates top trainers who can't or don't want to hold that job (like Red.)
Karen may not even be one of the top 500,000 trainers in the world. She's just able and willing to fulfill the position in her local area. That gentleman could be a much better trainer than she is, he's just retired or looks at pokemon as a hobby.
