Opal
| Opal ポプラ Poplar | |
| "The master of a fantastic theater!" | |
 Artwork from Sword and Shield | |
| Age | 88 |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Eye color | Blue |
| Hair color | White |
| Hometown | Ballonlea |
| Region | Galar |
| Relatives | Unnamed mother |
| Trainer class | Gym Leader Pokémon Trainer |
| Generation | VIII |
| Games | Sword and Shield |
| Leader of | Ballonlea Stadium |
| Badge | Fairy Badge |
| Specializes in | Fairy types |
| Game animation debut | Sky |
| English voice actor | Laura Post |
| Japanese voice actor | Ayumi Nagao |
| Anime debut | The Tale of You and Glimwood Tangle! |
| English voice actor | Marin M. Miller |
| Japanese voice actor | Yoshino Ohtori |
Opal (Japanese: ポプラ Poplar) is the Gym Leader of Ballonlea's Gym, known officially as Ballonlea Stadium. She specializes in Fairy-type Pokémon. She gives the Fairy Badge to Trainers who defeat her. During the events of Pokémon Sword and Shield, she chooses Bede as her successor and passes her Gym Leader title on to him.
In the games
Opal is designated the fifth Gym Leader Galarian Trainers face in their Gym Challenge. Opal became the Ballonlea Gym Leader at the age of 18, inheriting the position from her mother, and she has held it for 70 years. As revealed in The Isle of Armor, 50 years prior to the events of Pokémon Sword and Shield, she battled against Mustard for the title of Galar League Champion, but was defeated, despite her Fairy-type Pokémon having a type advantage over Mustard's Fighting types. Opal is also known by her nickname, "wizard", due to her supposed ability to predict her opponents' moves in battle.[1] Due to her old age by the time of Sword and Shield, her Gym mission doubles as an audition to seek a successor for herself.
Opal is first seen at Motostoke Stadium for the Gym Challenge's opening ceremony. She later appears on Route 6, watching as the player and Hop battle a pair of Team Yell Grunts, and at Stow-on-Side to observe the player's battle with Hop. After being defeated in a Gym battle, she offers to escort the player to Hammerlocke so that they can get to their next Gym sooner. In Hammerlocke, she notices Bede and instantly sees him as a worthy successor, taking him with her back to Ballonlea. By the time of the Champion Cup in Wyndon, Opal has officially passed her mantle as a Fairy-type Gym Leader to Bede, although she still occasionally shows up at the Gym to give him advice. Due to her retirement, Opal does not participate in the post-game Champion tournaments. She does, however, participate in the Galarian Star Tournament.
League Cards
This is a transcript of the back of Opal's League Cards in Pokémon Sword and Shield.
- Normal League Card
- "Opal is the oldest Gym Leader in the Galar region. She took over for her mother 70 years ago and has kept the position since. However, she feels that her own values have reached their limits, and thus she is currently looking for a worthy successor. She claims that she gives deliberately tricky quizzes because people reveal their true colors when in a pinch, but many speculate that in reality, she does it out of pure spite."
- Rare League Card
- "Opal has thrust the duties of Gym Leader onto Bede, who had his Gym Challenger status revoked. That being said, she still shows up at the Gym Stadium every day, giving unsolicited advice, coming up with new quiz questions, and practicing various performances. What is this "pink" she insisted others show her? Maybe a clue lies in a comment she made during an old interview. "Keep thinking about the right answer, and eventually you'll create the right answer.""
Pokémon
Opal keeps her Pokémon in Ultra Balls.
Pokémon Sword and Shield
Opal will Gigantamax her Alcremie at the first opportunity.
Gym battle
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Galarian Star Tournament
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Quotes
- Main article: Opal/Quotes
Artwork
|
| Concept art of a young Opal |
Sprites
|
| Icon from the Galarian Star Tournament menu |
League Cards
|
|
| Opal's League Card in Sword and Shield |
Opal's rare League Card in Sword and Shield |
In the anime
Main series
Opal first appeared in The Tale of You and Glimwood Tangle!, where she encountered Ash and Goh in Ballonlea and challenged them to a series of quizzes. In the process, Opal made them and their Pokémon wear pink clothes for each wrong answer they got. As Chloe reunited with the group, Opal revealed that she had asked the quizzes to keep the boys from recklessly searching for Chloe and let her come to them on her own.
Voice actors
| ||||||||||||
Pokémon: Twilight Wings
Opal appeared in Sky, where she gave her thoughts about Leon in an interview.
Opal reappeared in The Gathering of Stars, where she was observing Bede's performance while reminiscing about her younger days after having received an invitation letter for the Galarian Star Tournament. She was later seen at Wyndon Stadium, walking out onto the field for the tournament's opening ceremony.
Voice actors
| ||||||||||||
GOTCHA!
Opal briefly appeared in GOTCHA!.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
Opal debuted in Chomp!! Defeat Drednaw. She, along with various other Gym Leaders, was first seen reacting to the news that Leon had endorsed two Trainers for the Gym Challenge. In PASS13, Opal arrived in Hammerlocke, where she met Henry Sword and Casey Shield, the Trainers Leon endorsed. After introducing herself, Opal briefly traveled with them to Stow-on-Side before returning to Ballonlea.
In PASS15, Henry arrived at Ballonlea Stadium to challenge the Gym, but was stopped by Opal, who refused to let him on the field until he answered her quiz. After giving his answer, Henry was told to wait for his turn while Opal battled Hop. Once the battle was over, Opal took on Henry, during which she made an announcement that she planned on retiring as Gym Leader after the Gym Challenge had ended. Henry eventually won the battle, he failed to meet Opal's expectations as a successor for her Gym. In PASS18, she defeated Casey in a Gym battle, eliminating the latter from the Gym Challenge.
Later, Opal met with Bede at Ballonlea Stadium. Despite rejecting an earlier invitation, Bede decided to take Opal's offer to take over the title of Gym Leader. Opal quickly took a liking to Bede and accepted him as her successor. While Bede went through training, Opal questioned why Rose disqualified the boy from the Gym Challenge and decided to speak with the other Gym Leaders about the matter.
Pokémon
 
|
||
| Alcremie is Opal's first known Pokémon. She was first used in Opal's Gym battle against Henry, where she bombarded his Sirfetch'd, Lancelot, with a barrage of high-calorie cream missiles. After surviving Alcremie's attacks, Lancelot defeated her with a Max Steelspike boosted by an Expert Belt.
Alcremie's only known move is Draining Kiss*. | ||
| Debut | PASS16 | |
|---|---|---|
|
||
| Galarian Weezing is Opal's second known Pokémon. It was first used to battle Henry's Sirfetch'd, Lancelot, in a Gym battle, but was defeated.
Weezing's only known move is Sludge Bomb. | ||
| Debut | PASS16 | |
|---|---|---|
|
||
| Togekiss is Opal's third known Pokémon. It was first used to battle Henry's Gurdurr, Steeler, in a Gym battle, but was quickly defeated.
Togekiss's only known move is Double-Edge. | ||
| Debut | PASS16 | |
|---|---|---|
In the TCG
- Main article: Opal (Vivid Voltage 158)
Opal was introduced as a Supporter card in the Pokémon Trading Card Game during the English Sword & Shield Series (the Japanese Sword & Shield Era). It was first released in the Japanese Legendary Heartbeat subset and the English Vivid Voltage expansion, with artwork by take. It was also released as a Full Art card and Secret card in the same Japanese and English expansions, with artwork by Naoki Saito. It allows the player to flip two coins then search their deck for as many heads as they flipped and put them in their hand, before shuffling their deck.
Trivia
- Opal's uniform number is "910", which can be read in Japanese as goroawase for キュート kyūto, meaning "cute".
- Opal is the only Galar Gym Leader to not appear on the Isle of Armor.
- She is also the only Galar Gym Leader to not be rematched in single battles.
- The in-game model of Opal has the logo of HIJIKI OKA printed on her uniform, similar to those of Ballonlea Stadium Gym Trainers and Gym Leader Bede. However, it is rarely visible during actual gameplay.
- Opal has failed both Leon and Sonia for the audition of Gym Leader. Leon only got one answer correct, while Sonia answered all three questions correctly. Opal noted that while both were talented Trainers, Leon was hard to read, and Sonia gave up a little too quickly.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ポプラ Poplar | From poplar |
| English | Opal | From poplar and opal (a gemstone associated with various superstitions) |
| German | Papella | From Pappel (poplar) |
| Spanish, French | Sally | From Salicaceae (family that contains the poplar genus) |
| Italian | Poppy | From pioppo (poplar) |
| Korean | 포플러 Poplar | From her Japanese name |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 波普菈 Bōpǔlā | Transcription of her Japanese name |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 波普菈 Bōpóulaahp | |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Alba | From álamo (poplar) and Populus alba (scientific name of white poplar) |
References
Related articles
|
This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games. |