Pokémon Kieran’s Final Stand [Battle theme lyrics]

[elyvorg]

Whoops, I’m still not done writing lyrics for Kieran’s battle music, apparently! I hadn’t yet written any for his original battle theme, after all. While I don’t want to overlap with the work of the person who inspired me to do this, so I’m going to leave that emotionally-intense fourth battle alone, there’s still some potential inherent in Kieran’s mindset around the time of the first couple of battles with him, when he’s still just a sweet shy excitable kid before everything goes horribly wrong. That side of him is, after all, what I believe the first battle theme was composed to represent, in terms of its mood.

(The title I gave this thread really doesn’t fit here, lmao, but oh well.)

So here’s your link to said theme! The first two lines here start at 0:01, then there’s a break of a few instrumental bars before the next verse begins. Again, more detailed timestamps and notes are in the hovertext at the beginning of the verses if you need them.

~~~​

Can’t believe I battled you, who beat my Sis! she​

Says I’m near as strong as her, but I dunno about that…​

​

​

Lo-Looks like she! thinks I oughta pair with you, no matter what I say​

S’that okay…?​

(I’ll just keep out your way…)​

​

O-Our legend’s! s’posed to praise the Loyal Three; my favourite’s the ogre​

Most folks find it scary, but I think it’s cool—​

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Because…! Because…! Because…! You see…! (Don’t you?)​

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Wowzers!​

The way it fought ‘em one-on-three and it held its own!​

I mean, wowzers!​

And how it doesn’t even care​

that people shun it an’ it’s all alone​

​

It's so strong and cool, it’s kinda like my hero​

Wish I could be more like that, ever since I was little​

Not ready to meet it while I’m still a zero​

If I could get stronger, then one day just maybe it’ll…​

​

​

A-Anyway, that’s! why I think the ogre’s cooler than the Loyal Three​

Don’t you see?​

(Or is it still just me?)​

​

I-I guess it’s! not so bad you paired with me; maybe I can do this​

Talkin’ to new people, and someone like you—​

​

Hold up…! Hold up…! Hold up…! You said…?! (No way—)​

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Wowzers!​

You’re really sayin’ that you think of me as a friend?!​

I mean, wowzers!​

‘Cause that’d be so cool to me​

but do ya really mean it on your end?​

​

You’re so strong, I can’t believe I got to meet you​

If the ogre saw you, it’d think that you were somethin’​

Dunno how I’m ever, ever gonna beat you​

Tried at getting stronger; ‘course it all came out to nothin’​

~~~​

Thanks again if you checked this out! And watch this space, because I have one more set of lyrics I’m working on to cap off Kieran’s emotional arc, since I played the epilogue and his postgame content and was filled with so many warm and happy feelings about my boy.

(Or, if you came to this post to read these in order, you can jump back to the first post now and continue from there!)

 

[elyvorg]

Be aware that this contains spoilers for the Teal Mask DLC and also probably won’t make much sense if you haven’t played or seen the DLC’s story.

(If you’re checking out this thread for the first time having not read any of the songs yet, you might actually want to start here! I wrote these out of order (and posted them that way because I wasn’t expecting to go back and do more), but that linked post contains lyrics covering the chronologically earliest point in Kieran’s character arc.)

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I was inspired by this fantastic video of fanmade lyrics for Kieran’s battle theme by Juno Songs, which gave me Many Feelings. But, while I understand why the creator of that chose to write the lyrics based on the fourth Kieran battle, since there’s so much going on in his head there, it does sadly mean that the more intense variant of his battle theme for the fifth and final battle got passed up.

Which then led me to wonder… what if I tried my hand at writing my own set of lyrics for that final battle theme, based on what’s going on in Kieran’s head at that point? So I went and did just that. It was an interesting exercise in what is essentially poetry, which is not a medium I have much experience with at all, but I’m pretty pleased with what I managed to put together.

This can presumably be enjoyed on its own as a poem, but is best experienced while listening to the battle theme that it was written to be lyrics for. Here’s a link to a Youtube video of the theme that’s just the right length for this – the lyrics begin at 0:07.

(If you’re still having trouble lining the lyrics up with the music past that, you can hover over the first word of each verse for more timestamps – thanks to Spiteful Murkrow for that suggestion!)

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If I’m the strongest, Ogerpon will choose me​

If I were stronger, no-one would refuse me​

If I’m the strongest, Ogerpon will choose me​

If I were stronger, no-one would refuse me​

​

Whoever wins this battle earns their place as Ogerpon’s true friend​

In the end​

On this it all depends​

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Don’t you dare think of holding back at all; it matters that this bout​

Is all-out, here!​

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And don’t think I’ll be holding back either​

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I’ve admired the ogre’s story for so long​

How it was shunned an’ alone and even then, it stayed so strong​

All the time I’d come out here to visit its den​

Although I never had the courage to call out, I hoped​

If I got strong, then maybe we could be friends?​

​

But then you appeared, swept in like a hero​

Stole away my chance, befriending Ogerpon before me​

Lied to me and shunned me, ‘cause I’m such a zero​

Figures I’m so weak, it’s no surprise that she’d ignore me​

​

​

But if I’m the strongest, Ogerpon will choose me​

If I were stronger, no-one would refuse me​

If I’m the strongest, Ogerpon will choose me​

If I were stronger, no-one would refuse me​

​

That’s why I need to win this battle; I cannot afford to lose​

Or she’ll choose…!​

(We all know who she’ll choose)​

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I’ve trained so hard to match you ever since I learned you lied to me​

So you’ll see, now!​

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I’m gonna show you just what I can do​

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Always laughed at and shunned – that’s all I’ve ever known​

Even my sister hates dealing with me; no, I’m on my own​

People walk all over me again and again​

Because I never have the courage to stand up, so I​

Need to get strong for this to finally end​

​

Right away I knew that you were somethin’ special​

Couldn’t be more clear: that’s the strength I gotta aim for​

But compared to you, I’m nothin’ but a mess; you’ll​

Always be beyond me; proving that is all you came for​

​

​

It’s ‘cause I’m weak that Ogerpon rejects me​

It’s ‘cause I’m weak that nobody respects me​

It’s ‘cause I’m weak that Ogerpon rejects me…​

It’s ‘cause I’m weak that nobody respects me…​

​

~~~​

(Thanks for reading! If you like Kieran enough to have checked this out, you may also enjoy my lengthy tumblr ramble analysing his character.)

 

[elyvorg]

Well, Negrek was right, we did end up getting another song… but it’s even bleaker, because I just had to do this again for Kieran’s absolutely delicious champion battle theme and all of the massive issues going on in his head during that fight. I’m even more pleased with what I came up with for this one! And I also invite you to look back and compare this to the previous one, because I did a few deliberate parallels between them.

(I had no specific plans to do a follow-up when I made this thread, but hey, the thread title is pretty fitting here, too.)

This will of course contain spoilers for the Indigo Disk DLC and also Teal Mask and probably won’t make much sense if you’re not familiar with Kieran’s storyline.

Again, this can be read on its own as a poem but is best enjoyed while listening to the track it was written as lyrics for. Particularly so this time, because I really tried to get the emotional mood for each section to match the mood of the music it goes with. I couldn’t find a Youtube video at just the right length for this, so here’s one that’s a bit too long; best I could do. The lyrics begin at 0:07, and again, if you’re still having trouble fitting it with the music, you can hover over certain words for more timestamps.

~~~​

I’m going to win this time​

I’m going to win this time​

I’m going to win this time​

I’m going to win this time​

​

I’ve got to win this time​

I’ve got to win this time​

I’ve got to win this time​

I need to win this time!​

​

—You kept me waiting​

Don’t tell me you’re hesitating​

Everybody’s eyes are on us​

Everything is riding on this​

​

All my choices will be worth it​

All my efforts for one purpose:​

Proving who’s the strongest of us​

Right here and now!​

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The thrill of battle with my Pokémon​

Now I’ve found what it takes to climb the ranks, and ascend​

In the spotlight, I’ve reached number one​

Earned the respect of all my peers, but still, in the end…​

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It’s all useless if I don’t defeat you​

Training, training, all that training…!​

How could you ever know?!​

Through what I’ve had to go?!​

Over and over and over again…!​

​

Back before all this started, I was no-one​

Used to be pathetic and weak; good thing those times are over and done​

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Everything I couldn’t do,​

everything I couldn’t be,​

everything in my way​

I got the picture from what happened; it proved to me, I​

Had to get stronger and stronger and stronger and STRONGER​

for all that to finally end!​

​

Knew that to achieve it, I would need to change me​

See how much I did; I’m not that kid from Kitakami​

Didn’t even matter that it would estrange me​

Had no-one already; not like it could further harm me​

​

​

I can still win this time​

I can still win this time​

I can still win this time​

I can still win this time​

​

I’ve got to win this time​

I’ve got to win this time​

I’ve got to win this time​

I need to win this time!​

​

—I won’t stop trying!​

Gotta keep intensifying​

Even with who luck has chosen​

Even if I’m left wide open​

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Can’t you see how hard I’m going?​

Can’t you tell that I’ve been throwing​

Everything I have at you​

Why won’t you go down?!​

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The blinding dazzle of your Pokémon​

With you behind them, self-assured and fearless and free​

See you wield the strength of Ogerpon​

The two of you in sync so well, like I’ll never be​

​

Takes some nerve to bring her out right now, it’s​

Not fair, not fair, it’s just not fair…!​

You’d never understand!​

You with the world in hand!​

Just rub it in, rub it in, why don’t you…?!​

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I have looked up to you so much for so long​

Back when I was so small and weak, you showed me what it means to be strong​

​

Everything that you could do,​

everything that you could be,​

everything that I want​

But it was spelled out by what happened: compared to me, you​

Were so much stronger and stronger and stronger and STRONGER​

that no way we’d ever be friends!​

​

Just one thing I’m left with: proving I can beat you​

Seemed so out of reach yet had to find a way to make it​

Maybe wasn’t ready; didn’t think I’d meet you​

Nothing I could do but keep the mask in place and fake it​

​

​

I won’t just lose again​

I won’t just lose again​

I won’t just lose again​

I won’t just lose again​

​

I can’t just lose again​

I can’t just lose again​

I can’t just lose again​

What if I lose again…?!​

~~~​

(Thanks for reading once more! Alas I do not have another Kieran ramble on my tumblr to link you to, yet - nope, it finally exists! Here are all my thoughts on Kieran's arc in The Indigo Disk, if you wanted to check that out too.)

 

[elyvorg]

(( @Umbramatic Thanks for the comments! I had fun reading your reactions, and I'm glad you enjoyed it! ))

Negrek suggested we’d maybe get a song at the end to resolve things in a happier way, and here we are! Since it’s possible to infinitely re-battle Kieran in the postgame when he shows up in the League Club room, how about a song that’s essentially for those battles?

And, yes, I know that the theme the game uses for battling him in the clubroom is the theme from his final Kitakami battle. However, and hear me out here: that’s the wrong one. The devs made the Incorrect Choice and should have actually used his original theme for these battles, the one that’s light-hearted and peppy and represents the excitable kid he was at the beginning and finally is again after everything. So, this is me pretending his clubroom battle theme is his original one, like it should be, and writing another set of lyrics for it to cap off Kieran’s character arc throughout these songs and show how far he's come.

(The thread title doesn’t quite fit here either, but maybe instead we can call this one Kieran’s Final Resolution.)

This actually only contains very vague spoilers for the events of the epilogue itself; it’s more just spoilers for the general place Kieran’s character has ended up at in the epilogue and postgame clubroom scenes.

Here's your link again; like the first song, this starts at 0:01 and then has an instrumental break after the first couple of lines. More timestamps and details in hovertext, as usual!

~~~​

Hey c’mon, let’s battle! I wonder if I’ll beat you​

Or maybe you’ll win out again; the outcome doesn’t matter​

​

​

Sure was scary! To apologise to folks for how I’d gone astray​

But someway​

It all worked out okay​

​

Still not easy! But I thought I’d struggle more; turns out that I got this​

Talkin’ to more people, everyone’s so nice​

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And that’s not all that I can do, somehow…!​

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Wowzers!​

That time I fought off the whole town, and I held my own!​

I mean, wowzers!​

And fightin’ side by side with you,​

it felt so good to know I’m not alone​

​

Feel the thrill of battle, this feeling never changes​

Always such a blast when I’ve got my Pokémon behind me​

Knew it all already, way back when we were strangers​

Somewhere I’d forgotten, but so much happened to remind me​

​

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Seems so weird now! How I thought that what you said back then was just pretend​

In the end​

You really were my friend​

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Plus, you know what? I’m not jealous any more that Ogerpon chose you​

I’m just glad that she’ll be happy there with you​

​

Besides, I’m happy too, because, somehow…!​

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Wowzers!​

It’s still unreal I’ve wound up with so many friends!​

I mean, wowzers!​

That might be normal stuff for you​

but it means everythin’ and more on my end​

​

Can’t believe how lucky I am that I could meet you​

If we’d never battled that day, I dunno where I’d be now​

Doesn’t even matter that I can’t often beat you​

Real friends would care anyway; I think I fin’lly see now​

~~~​

And that really should wrap up this series of lyrics! This is where I would link to my tumblr ramble about Kieran’s epilogue and postgame character growth – again, if I had one yet aaaand here it is!