From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
Ballonlea (Japanese: アラベスクタウン Arabesque Town) is a small, secluded town situated in a dense forest in the northwestern Galar region. The town's sole access route via land is through Glimwood Tangle, which is located to the south. The town is surrounded by towering trees and its paths are lined by many glowing mushrooms. The houses in Ballonlea resemble the design of common half-timbered cottages in traditional Tudor architecture. Due to being nestled within a forest, Ballonlea is quite dark; the glowing mushrooms provide most of the light outside.
Opal serves as Ballonlea's Gym Leader in Pokémon Sword and Shield, specializing in Fairy-type Pokémon. Bede later becomes the town's Gym Leader after being hand-picked and trained by Opal.
Slogan
A charming town where the people make their homes among the trunks of the towering trees. (Japanese: 巨木の 内側を くりぬいた 形の 居住区がある 町 A town where the residential area is in the shape of hollowed-out giant trees.)
Places of interest
Ballonlea Stadium
- Main article: Ballonlea Stadium
Ballonlea Stadium is the official Pokémon Gym of Ballonlea, specializing in Fairy types. It is initially led by Opal, who inherited the Gym Leader position from her mother 70 years earlier. She eventually chooses Bede as her successor and makes him the new Fairy-type Gym Leader.
Pokémon Center
The Pokémon Center is located in the southeastern corner of Ballonlea, and is the first building that the player arrives at upon entering the town from Glimwood Tangle to the south.
The man behind the left counter in the Pokémon Center performs the duties of the Name Rater, memory reader, Move Reminder, and Move Deleter. Unlike in previous games, making a Pokémon remember a move does not require the payment of a Heart Scale. The Pokémon Storage System can be accessed from the Rotomi to the left of the Pokémon Center lady's counter. This PC also enables access to the Loto-ID, as well as Poké Jobs and the League Card Maker.
Poké Mart
This Poké Mart is located at the right counter in the Pokémon Center.
Demographics
Pokémon Sword and Shield
Ballonlea comprises a Pokémon Center, two houses, and the Ballonlea Stadium. In total, the town has a permanent population of 26, the majority of which are female.
Items
Trainers
In the anime
Ballonlea first appeared in The Tale of You and Glimwood Tangle!, where Ash and Goh wound up there while wandering around Glimwood Tangle. Soon after arriving, they encountered Opal, who challenged them to a series of quizzes and made them and their Pokémon wear pink clothes for each wrong answer they got. They were eventually joined by Chloe, who arrived to the town with a Galarian Ponyta and Rapidash she had befriended.
In The Sweet Taste of Battle!, Ash, Goh, and Chloe revisited Ballonlea after receiving an invitation from Opal for a competition she was holding at her Gym, with Leon and Raihan attending it as well. While visiting a local pâtisserie before going to the Gym, Goh caught himself a Milcery, which he inadvertently ended up evolving into an Alcremie almost immediately afterwards.
Opal's competition turned out to be a cake-decorating contest dubbed the All-Alcremie Decoration Challenge. She loaned each of the contestants one of her Alcremie to provide them cream for the contest. To everyone's surprise, Ash's overly decorated cake ended up winning. Afterwards, Opal challenged Ash to a battle, using her Gigantamax Alcremie against Ash's Pikachu. The battle ended up being called off when Alcremie's G-Max Finale caused Pikachu to grow too fat and full to continue battling.
Gallery
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
Ballonlea first appeared in Chomp!! Defeat Drednaw, where Opal was informed of the new Gym Challengers endorsed by Leon.
In Shocking!! Reunion in the Forest, Henry arrived at Ballonlea for the next leg of his Gym Challenge. In Rising!! Opal of Ballonlea, while waiting for Hop to finish his battle with Opal, Henry trained with Marvin and his newly evolved Drizzile outside the Gym stadium. Once Hop had won his battle, Henry challenged and defeated Opal as well. In Chomp!! It's Dracovish, it was Casey's turn to challenge Opal, but she lost, ending her run in the Gym Challenge.
In Cracking!! Brilliant Tap-Dancing, Opal invited Bede to visit her at Ballonlea. Taking a liking to his personality, she chose him as a worthy successor for her as the Ballonlea Gym Leader and started training him in order to prepare him for taking on the position.
Trivia
Origin
Name origin
| Language
|
Name
|
Origin
|
| Japanese
|
アラベスクタウン Arabesque Town
|
From arabesque (a ballet position)
|
English, Polish,
Brazilian Portuguese
|
Ballonlea
|
From ballon and -lea (British town suffix for woodland clearing)
|
| German
|
Fairballey
|
From fair, fairy, ballet, and -ley (British town suffix for woodland clearing)
|
| Spanish
|
Pueblo Plié
|
From plié (smooth and continuous bending of the knees in ballet)
|
| French
|
Corrifey
|
From coryphée (dancer of a higher rank in corps de ballet), fey, and -ey (British town suffix for enclosure)
|
| Italian
|
Piquedilly
|
From piqué (ballet movement involving the pricking of the floor before rebounding) and possibly Piccadilly
|
| Korean
|
아라베스크마을 Arabesque Town
|
From its Japanese name
|
| Chinese (Mandarin)
|
舞姿鎮 / 舞姿镇 Wǔzī Zhèn
|
From 舞姿 wǔzī / móuhjī (dancer's posture and movement)
|
| Chinese (Cantonese)
|
舞姿鎮 Móuhjī Jan
|
