Karen (Pokemon)

About

Karen is a member of the Elite Four in the Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal versions, as well as the HeartGold and SoulSilver remakes. In the storyline, she is the semifinal challenger in the game’s main campaign. Upon her defeat, she will give a short, yet profound monologue about emphasizing personal choice in the context of one’s Pokemon party. Fans have parroted her quote on message boards and on social media, often in a positive light.

Origin

In Pokemon Generation 2, Karen (Japanese: カリン Karin) is a Dark-type Trainer and member of the Indigo Elite Four.^[1] The player must defeat her in a Pokemon Battle in order to fight and defeat the Champion, and become part of the Pokemon "Hall of Fame" (shown below, left). Karen also returns in the Generation 2 remakes with a new clothing design that she is more often associated with online (shown below, right).

Online Presence

Karen is depicted as having "silvery-blue eyes and long silvery-blue hair that reaches past her waist with two long bangs that frame her face."^[2] While she originally wore a black dress in the Gameboy Color Games, fans, as well as official art in future Pokemon games, have chosen her remake design (a yellow tank-top with light-grey pants) when creating memes and fan art associated with her.

Strong Pokemon, Weak Pokemon

Karen is well-known among Pokémon fans for her post-battle quote. The quote from both the original and remake have more-or-less the same message, but with slight alterations in the third line.

"Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon.
That is only the selfish perception of people.
Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites.
I like your style. You understand what's important.
Go on -- -- the Champion is waiting."

Karen, Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal^[3]

"Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon.
That is only the selfish perception of people.
Truly skilled Trainers should try to win with the Pokémon they love best.
I like your style. You understand what's important.
Go on -- -- the Champion is waiting."

While the origins of online usage is hard to confirm, conversations about the quote can be found as early as April 11th, 2013 on Reddit by the user u/redraichu.^[6]

Pokemon Fans will often use the first three lines in particular to emphasize the importance of playing the game how you like, rather than being pressured in a competitive sense to win. These words put more emphasis towards learn the game and the mechanics of Pokemon to find a playstyle that suits the individual; as opposed to getting blindsided by stat values and tier lists for something "objectively better".^[4]

2014 Pokemon Champions Finals

In 2014, the Competitive Pokemon Trainer Se Jun Park won the 2014 Pokemon World Championship, notably with a Pachirisu in his team lineup. Pachirisu, according to the commentators, is useful as a disruptive Pokemon, using moves like “Follow Me” to redirect opposing Pokemon to prioritize attacks on the user, or “Nuzzle” to damage the target with a 100% chance of causing Paralysis.

Coupled with its high Special Defense and Speed stats, the Squirrel Pokemon can find itself hard-countering many high-tiered pokemon with high attack and mediocre-to-low speed stats in doubles tournaments. This is demonstrated in the 2014 Finals round between Se Jun and his opponent, Jeudy Azzarelli. Pachirisu is shown demonstrating its abilities in the finals in the video provided at 13:47.

The outcome of the Finals made for many memes about the untiered Pokemon’s power as god-like, despite focusing more on debuffs and tanking hits for the team’s party. Among the memes can be found Karen’s original quote complemented with an image of Pachirisu. Likewise in the Finals video, Karen's quote can be seen as a pinned comment by the user "King Videot", gaining 19k upvotes from the time it was posted (shown below).

Criticisms

As the quote started gaining more frequent traction in the Pokemon fanbase, so too did detractors. Pokemon fans would make rebuttals in the form of meme responses – and references towards other NPCs in the franchise – to denounce Karen's core message.

Pokemon O.R.A.S. Battle Resort Gentleman

Upon the release of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, a Gentleman N.P.C. found in the Battle Resort makes a counterargument to Karen. Upon talking to the man, he will say the following to the player:

“It’s one thing to enjoy leisurely battles, but real battles can be a severe trial.
Truly Strong Trainers sometimes must be prepared to choose Pokemon that
can win rather than their favorite Pokemon.”

The first known instance of this quote online can be found on Imgur by an unknown user.

Examples of the NPC's quote have been used in places such as Reddit, Twitter, Know Your Meme and GameFaqs in subsequent years.

Grimsley

In Pokemon Black/White, Grimsley is another character with a noteworthy quote used to call out Karen's words as "overrated". In the first Black/White game, Grimsley – much like other Elite Four characters in this time – can have a rematch with the player with a stronger party. In the pre-battle quote of this rematch, Grimsley will state the following:^[5]

"Life is a serious battle, and you have to use the tools you're given.
It's more important to master the cards you're holding than to complain
about the ones your opponents were dealt."

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References