After catching a small glimpse of Kieran’s villain transformation in the Dec. 7 trailer for The Indigo Disk, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet players didn’t hold back on their opinions of this major “glow-up.”
Just one week before The Indigo Disk’s official release on Dec. 14, The Pokémon Company released another trailer to get players hyped for the upcoming DLC. The trailer revealed new features such as the ability to fly on Koraidon and Miraidon, returning Legendaries, a new Tera Raid event featuring Dialga and Palkia, and more. When it comes to the storyline and a certain DLC character, however, fans were interested in Kieran’s dramatic transformation from shy boy to angsty teen.
In a Dec. 7 Reddit thread, many players praised Kieran for entering his likely villain arc, going as far as to say he’s “glowed up like Cherrim on a sunny day.” He not only has colder eyes but he’s also rocking a new hairstyle with it pulled back with more purple hair visible than before. He’s no longer the shy kid hiding his face behind his long hair. One player even said Kieran looks more like his sister Carmine now, who was quite the confident hothead in The Teal Mask. Now it’s Kieran’s turn to exude confidence with a dark side.
Others still aren’t sold on Kieran’s villain era, saying, “I honestly cannot take this arc seriously after seeing him like this.” The purple hair is a little much for some players, but others are simply looking forward to making him cry again. It’s been somewhat of a running joke among Scarlet and Violet players to poke fun at Kieran’s unhealthy obsession with Ogerpon since The Teal Mask, and they still like the idea of rubbing their friendship with the Legendary ‘mon right in the boy’s face. For example, how mean would it be to beat Kieran with the very Ogerpon he used to love?
Regardless of whether you love or hate him, Kieran’s descent to darkness is something players have been talking about since completing the first part of the DLC, which ended on an ominous cliffhanger for our boy. While we still don’t have a lot of official specifics about the storyline in The Indigo Disk, all signs are pointing to Kieran becoming our enemy and a more formidable opponent. Something might even be possessing him, according to leaks.
We’ll see if Kieran’s story lives up to the hype when The Indigo Disk is released on Dec. 14.
