Born to Be a Winner

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English opening themes

Believe in Me →

Born to Be a Winner
Dub OP 4 Artist David Rolfe Lyrics John Loeffler and John Siegler Composer John Loeffler and John Siegler Arrangement
KOCH Records Title Pokémon X Catalog no. KOC-CD-4185

Born to Be a Winner is the opening theme song for the English dub of the fourth season, Pokémon: Johto League Champions, as well as Celebi: The Voice of the Forest. It was used from A Goldenrod Opportunity to Machoke, Machoke Man!. The opening animation is composed of clips from the fourth Japanese opening Aim to Be a Pokémon Master (Whiteberry Version), two episode clips for the anime, as well as original footage especially created for the opening.

Lyrically, it borrows heavily from the original Pokémon Theme. The TV version is available on the CD, Pokémon X.

Lyrics

TV version

Pokémon!
Pokémon!
Pokémon...

...Let's do it

I wanna be the very best
Like no one ever was (Ever was, ever was)
To catch them is my real test
To train them is my cause

My whole life has led to this
Time to test my skills
I know I just can't miss
Gonna show the world

Born to be a winner
(Johto)
Born to be a champion
Born to be a winner
Born to be the very best
(Pokémon Johto)
Born to be a winner

Pokémon!

Ending version

...Let's do it

Born to be a winner
(Johto)
Born to be a champion
Born to be a winner
Born to be the very best
(Pokémon)

Born to be a winner
(Johto)
Born to be a champion
Born to be a winner
Born to be the very best
(Pokémon Johto)
Born to be a winner

Pokémon!

Movie version

Pokémon!
Pokémon!
Pokémon!
Pokémon...

...Let's do it

I wanna be the very best
Like no one ever was (no one ever was)
To catch them is my real test
To train them is my cause

My whole life has led to this
Time to test my skills
I know I just can't miss
Gonna show the world

Born to be a winner
Born to be a Champion
Born to be a winner
Born to be the very best
Born to be a winner!
Pokémon!

Every challenge along the way
With courage I will face (courage I will face)
I will battle every day
To claim my rightful place

Come with me, the time is right
There's no better team (there's no better team!)
Arm in arm we'll win the fight
Gonna live our dream

Born to be a winner
Born to be a Champion
Born to be a winner
Born to be the very best (the very best)

I was born to be a winner
Born to be a Champion
Born to be a winner
Born to be the very best
Born to be a winner!
(born to be the very best)
Born to be a winner,
Pokémon!

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Tracey
• Jessie
• James
• Professor Oak
• Delia
• Officer Jenny
• Nurse Joy
• Falkner
• Bugsy
• Whitney
• Morty
• Chuck
• Jasmine
• Pryce
• Clair

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Charizard (Ash's)
• Snorlax (Ash's)
• Heracross (Ash's)
• Chikorita (Ash's)
• Cyndaquil (Ash's)
• Totodile (Ash's)
• Noctowl (Ash's; Shiny)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Onix (Brock's)
• Vulpix (Brock's)
• Scyther (Bugsy's)
• Miltank (Whitney's)
• Gengar (Morty's)
• Dragonair (Clair's)
• Umbreon (Gary's)
• Lugia
• Igglybuff
• Smoochum
• Magby
• Cleffa
• Hitmontop
• Articuno
• Zapdos
• Moltres
• Blastoise
• Houndoom
• Rhydon
• Steelix
• Aerodactyl
• Magnemite
• Magneton
• Scizor
• Mewtwo
• Mew
• Entei
• Ho-Oh
• Suicune
• Weezing
• Ursaring
• Nidoqueen
• Nidoking
• Stantler
• Bellossom
• Sunflora

Video

By Pokémon

Trivia

• The fact that this theme borrows heavily from the original is similar to how Aim to Be a Pokémon Master, the first Japanese opening theme, was remixed and used as the fourth Japanese opening theme.
• Aside from a few scenes from the fourth Japanese intro and two episode clips, most of the animation used in this opening is original.
• In some areas, this intro did not begin at the fourth season starting episode, but much later.
• This is the only opening so far to not be translated into Danish.
• A special remix was to be made for the German version, but was cut out of the final version.
• Some international dubs, like the Finnish and CN dub version of Hindi, missed the reference to the original theme song at the beginning of this theme song, using completely new lyrics instead of the original lyrics from Pokémon Theme.
• This opening features the most Gym Leaders, with a total of ten: Misty, Brock, Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, Morty, Chuck, Jasmine, Pryce, and Clair.
  • Despite being in the opening, Pryce and Clair do not appear until the next season.
• This theme's debut and final appearance both occur in episodes that Ash has a Gym battle. Its debut is in A Goldenrod Opportunity, where he battles Whitney for the first time, and its final appearance in Machoke, Machoke Man!, which features his Gym battle against Chuck.
• This is the last opening theme written and composed by John Loeffler until Battle Frontier.

Errors

• When Whitney is on-screen, the sphere on Miltank's tail disappears for a split-second.
• When Ho-Oh appears, it briefly overlaps Entei, despite being behind it.
• In the shot showing all of Ash and his friends' Pokémon, the cream part of Snorlax's belly is disconnected from its face.

• 
  The overlap error
• 
  Snorlax's belly

In other languages

Language		Title
Valencian		El destí m'espera Destiny awaits me
Croatian		Stvoreni za pobjede Born for victories
Dutch		Ik ben een geboren winnaar I'm a born winner
Finnish		Syntynyt oon voittaan I have born to win
French		Les champions de Johto The Johto Champions
German		Wir sind die Gewinner We are the winners
Hebrew		נולדתי לנצח noladeti lenatze'akh
Hindi		हम तो हैं वो हीरो Hum toh hain woh hero * बनुंगा मै ही विनर Banuga Mein Hi Winner *
Italian		Sono un vincitore I'm a winner
Polish		Zostać chcę zwycięzca I want to be a winner
Portuguese	Brazil	Nasci pra Ser o Campeão Born to be a Champion
	Portugal	És Um Campeão You're a champion
Spanish	Latin America	Quiero Siempre el Triunfo I always want the triumph
	Spain	Ese es Mi Destino That is my destiny
Swedish		Född att vinna striden Born to win the battle
Tamil		ஜைபொன் நானே வின்னர் Jaipeyan Naane Winner *
Telugu		గెలుపే నా లక్ష్యం Gelupe Naa Lakshyam *

English opening themes of the Pokémon animated series The Beginning: Pokémon Theme • Pokémon World Gold and Silver: Pokémon Johto • Born to Be a Winner • Believe in Me Ruby and Sapphire: I Wanna Be a Hero • This Dream • Unbeatable • Battle Frontier Diamond and Pearl: Diamond and Pearl • We Will Be Heroes • Battle Cry - (Stand Up!) • We Will Carry On! Black & White: Black and White • Rival Destinies • It's Always You and Me XY: Pokémon Theme (Version XY) • Be a Hero • Stand Tall Sun & Moon: Under The Alolan Sun • Under The Alolan Moon • The Challenge of Life Journeys: The Journey Starts Today • Journey to Your Heart • With You • Gotta Catch Em All Horizons: Becoming Me / We Go (English Ver.) • My Favorite Pokémon Other: Side by Side • Pokérap GS / Pokémon Chronicles theme • Always Safe

← Pokémon Johto

English opening themes

Believe in Me →

This article is part of Project Music, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon song, CD and musician.