>>44915974Truly a beautiful place. It's my favorite town in the game. Teeming with life. Old European style houses that are almost akin to those you would see in fairy tales or folklore stories. Beautiful, incandescent mushrooms of multiple colors and sizes. Pokemon living freely with people and interacting with them. Opal and Bede. It being a "hallway" is meant to illustrate Fairy-type's characteristic of complexity hidden through simplicity. Remember, fairies are tricksters. They like to trick and fool people. They are cunning and mischievous. This is a hallway on the surface, because there is a lot of culture and lore hidden underneath. There is a beautiful history here. If a Chinchou wants to live in Ballonlea, then Ballonlea must be an amazing place. It's a take on the "old ways" (people and Pokemon living harmoniously in nature) with the modernization of change. Opal gets replaced because she decides one day to just retire, out of her own whimsy. She has the stamina, intelligence, and ability to continue being a Gym Leader until she dies. She chooses to just say, "Fuck it," and retires out of the blue. Opal abandons her gym duties throughout the game and just focuses on finding her successor.
She chooses the most unlikely and seemingly unworthy person for the goal. A pompous, arrogant, sheltered, traumatized, and helpless little brat who uses Psychic-type Pokemon. He is an asshole on the surface, because he doesn't want to be in pain anymore. When Chairman Rose abandoned Bede, he was at a complete loss. Opal knew that Bede had the potential to be one of multiple things, but she sensed the hidden pain, sincerity, and sadism underneath the surface. Opal saw how twisted Bede was despite his straightforwardness. That's how fairies behave. They are twisted yet straightforward. Complex yet simple. Subtle yet obvious. Things that you perceive are the truth may not be the truth. Things you perceive are false may not be false. It's absurdity, mischief, and good fun.
