>>58559254I think the joke is meant to be that Ivor's philosophy of physical training to use karate to defend against wild pokemon is so ridiculous that it filters out everyone except people infatuated with him.
There's a side quest where someone's pokemon is out of control and at the end, one of Ivor's disciples scolds him and invites him to the dojo to learn how to control his pokemon. Unfortunately he doesn't actually show up at the dojo in game.