Kieran [Pokemon]

Kieran is a character first appearing in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero (The Teal Mask). He is a Pokémon Trainer, the younger brother of Carmine and a student attending Blueberry Academy.

Appearance Kieran is a slender young boy with yellow eyes and black hair with violet underlights. He has a yellow headband and his outfit is a collared blue shirt with a red tie, a white and blue jacket, a yellow backpack, a red thumbless glove, white shorts with two stripes on the legs, one white and one blue, and matching blue socks and red and white shoes. He is seen with his eyes being half-closed and mole on his neck.

In The Teal Mask, Kieran is seen wearing a Traditional White Jinbei outfit. Instead of wearing a mask of the Loyal Three, he wears the Ogre mask.

In The Indigo Disk, Kieran wears a red sleeveless shirt and a white coat and is seen with the bangs of his hair pulled back except for a single strand. He claims that by pulling his hair back, he would be able to perform better in Pokémon battles.

Personality Kieran is a quiet boy with a gentle nature who often hides behind his older sister, Carmine. He looks up to the player character, admiring them as someone cool and strong, and despite his timid demeanor, he harbors a deep desire to grow stronger. Unlike most people, Kieran sympathizes with Ogerpon and prefers her over the Loyal Three, recognizing her strength despite being alone. As the story progresses, he becomes increasingly jealous of the player for forming a bond with Ogerpon and ultimately capturing her. Notably, the French version of the game confirms that Kieran is 14 years old, while the Spanish version adds that he is going through puberty—something Carmine suspects is behind his shifting emotions and behavior.

His jealousy and frustration culminate after he becomes the Champion of Blueberry Academy and the President of the League Club. At this point, Kieran's internal struggles and self-hatred boil over, leading to a complete change in his personality and an obsessive drive to win at all costs. Eventually, he is brought back to his senses and returns to his former self, acknowledging that he may never surpass the player. In the end, Kieran still demonstrates deep care for all of his Pokémon, even those not part of his main team.

Biography Kieran and his sister Carmine are students attending Blueberry Academy, hailing from Kitakami, often referred to as troublemakers. He is a first-year student in the academy, being in the same class as Crispin.

The player character first encounters Kieran when they head into Kitakami to find help for a fellow student, where he has his first battle but loses. The following day, the player partners up with him to take selfies at three signposts scattered across the area. They manage to find two of them, with the local Festival of Masks taking priority when it starts. During the festival, the player character runs into Ogerpon, with Carmine discovering them in the process. The day after the festival, the two bring the mask to their grandfather, who tells the truth about Ogerpon and the Loyal Three. Kieran was shooed away by Carmine, who did not want to admit the truth to him; unbeknownst to the two of them, Kieran had eavesdropped on the conversation. After an indirect attempt to ask the player character themselves, Kieran becomes increasingly bitter and betrayed, confused as to why they would uphold Carmine's lie. By the time they reach the third signboard, he requests another battle, which he ends up losing and comments about not being strong enough.

When the player and Carmine tried to fix Ogerpon's Teal Mask, Kieran stole it and went to Loyalty Plaza, only agreeing to give it up should he lose the battle. As expected, Kieran loses and he returns the mask, punching a memorial to the Loyal Three before leaving. This act ends up reviving the trio, who then return to Loyalty Plaza to claim Ogerpon's other masks. The player and Carmine track each member down and reclaim the mask, while Kieran informs the other villagers of the truth behind the Loyal Three and Ogerpon. His grandfather is worried about him spreading heresy, but Kieran is successfully able to convince the entire village by the time they reclaim the stolen masks. During this time, his eyes notably change from a clear black and yellow to a more intense shading. Upon returning to Ogerpon's home in the Dreaded Den, Kieran asks for a final match with the condition that the winner would claim Ogerpon. Kieran ultimately loses again and watches the player catch Ogerpon before returning home, claiming sickness and does not attend the farewell ceremony; in his room, he swears to triumph over the player.

Kieran later returns to the Blueberry Academy, where his obsession with defeating the player results in him overthrowing Drayton as the Champion of the BB League and president of the League Club. He oversees the club with an iron fist, bullying students who he deems weak into leaving the club. The sudden change is noted by both his sister and Elite Four members. After having a friendly match with Carmine, they witness Kieran bully another member into leaving the club, before Drayton arrives and has the two head into the club room. Drayton later has the player accompany them to the cafeteria, where he calls Kieran and the others. Kieran is shocked at the player's arrival, though when Drayton brings up the subject of letting them participate in the BB League, he and Crispin accept, while Lacey and Amarys decline. Kieran is left as the tiebreaker, and he also agrees just so he could battle them. During registration, he voices his approval to the representative (as they doubted Drayton's claims) and told the player that they had better not lose until they reached him.

Once the player defeats the Elite Four, Drayton helps sign them up for the Champion match against Kieran, with most of the club watching. Despite having replaced his former team for a much more competitive set, he is unable to prevail over an official League Champion, putting him in a temporary shell-shocked state. This causes complications with the Elite Four, as Kieran would be relegated to an Elite Four and Crispin would be kicked out in the process. However, he is called over the PA system along with the player, Carmine and Drayton, where Briar reveals she was authorized to enter the Great Crater of Paldea to find the hidden treasure of Area Zero. Believing that the treasure would allow him to defeat the player, Kieran accepts the trip to Paldea.

When they arrive, they discover an hidden area underneath what was supposedly the deepest area in the crater, where they also discovered a new Terastal type; Stellar, and Terapagos. Upon reaching the end of the area, Kieran spots a crystal and rips it off, rousing Terapagos from its slumber. Terapagos begins to walk towards the player, causing him to throw a Master Ball to catch it. He then battles them and loses again, but Briar realizes that Terapagos had not been powered up. She asks him to use his Tera Orb, which he does, causing it to enter its Stellar Form, but it goes berserk from the power in the process. He tries to recall it into the Master Ball, but Terapagos breaks it and launches a beam of energy at him, only for Koraidon/Miraidon to appear and block it. The act of one of his Pokémon turning on him causes Kieran to enter a deep shock while the player and Carmine try to stop Terapagos. After it knocks out her Sinistcha, Carmine successfully convinces him to assist the player, during which his eyes return to normal.

After subduing the berserk Pokémon, Kieran allows the player to catch it before he apologizes for his actions, being able to finally let go of his guilt and cries.

Returning to the academy, Kieran apologizes to the player and asks if they would like to restart their friendship again, which they happily accept, having gone through so much to try and help Kieran go back to his real self.

Kieran would proceed to resign from the club and take a short break, returning home to Kitakami. He would send a letter to the player to have them visit Kitakami with their friends; at the same time, Carmine began acting strange. He quickly befriends Nemona, Arven and Penny, though the trip is cut short by a mischievous Pokémon known as Pecharunt who possesses most of the village into becoming mochi addicts. Fortunately, the player manages to catch it, putting an end to its mischief. Kieran ultimately decides to give the academy a second chance, and returns with his sister. Upon returning, he begins apologizing to his peers for his actions as club president and decides to drop himself from the league to reassess himself, though the player can still have rematches with him.