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Overview
Palette Town is the sandbox area in Pokemon Pokopia, accessible across the bridge from the Withered Wasteland after completing the tutorial. Unlike the four story areas, Palette Town is a massive blank canvas designed for freeform building, creative projects, and multiplayer collaboration. The area has minimal pre-existing terrain, allowing players to freely build and terraform with endless possibilities. The name is a wordplay on the original Pallet Town from Kanto, with "Palette" referencing an artist's palette.
Palette Town is home to a significant number of exclusive Pokemon that can only be found here, even if their habitat is built in another area. Eevee and all eight Eeveelutions are Palette Town exclusives, as are the three Kanto Legendary Birds. The area can be renamed at any time using the Pokemon Center PC, and rebuilding its Pokemon Center is not required to see the game's credits.
How to Unlock
Palette Town becomes accessible shortly after completing the tutorial in the Withered Wasteland. It is the first area players can visit beyond the starting zone and does not require any specific Trainer Rank to enter. Simply cross the bridge on the far left side (west roadway) of the Withered Wasteland to reach it.
Eevee and Eeveelutions
When first entering Palette Town and interacting with the Computer at the Pokemon Center, Eevee appears automatically and asks for help finding its friends. Eevee has a Trade specialty and likes warm habitats, soft stuff, stone stuff, cute stuff, letters and words, group activities, and sweet flavors. Each Eeveelution requires building a specific habitat with a unique food item that must be unlocked through a Special Challenge.
Every Eeveelution habitat follows the same base recipe: 1 Seat (any type), 1 Table (any type), and 1 unique food item. The food items are earned by completing the Special Challenges listed below.
Pokemon | Habitat Name | Food Item | Special Challenge Unlock Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
Eevee | Tall Grass | None required | Appears automatically when first entering Palette Town |
Vaporeon | Boundless Blue Beverage | Soda Float | Obtain and grow 12 different types of flower seeds |
Jolteon | Electrifying Potatoes | Fried Potatoes | Power 50 machines with electricity |
Flareon | Burning-Hot Spice | Pizza | Use Pokemon to build 15 times |
Espeon | Elegant Daytime Treats | Afternoon Tea Set | Get a Pokemon housemate in Palette Town (daytime only) |
Umbreon | Dark-Chocolate Cookies | Chocolate Cookies | Build a road using 300 blocks (nighttime only) |
Leafeon | Leafy Green Sandwich | Sandwiches | Obtain 50 vegetable seeds |
Glaceon | Chilly Shaved Ice | Shaved Ice | Set up 5 lifts |
Sylveon | Lovely Ribbon Cake | Ribbon Cake | Encounter 10 different Pokemon |
Note that Espeon only spawns during the daytime and Umbreon only spawns at nighttime, following the Day and Night Cycle. All other Eeveelutions appear at any time of day once their habitat is built.
Legendary Birds
The three Kanto Legendary Birds are also exclusive to Palette Town and can be attracted using special habitat kits.
Pokemon | Habitat Kit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Articuno | Freezing Chambers Kit | Requires Ice materials to build |
Zapdos | Abandoned Power Plant Kit | Palette Town recommended due to large space needed |
Moltres | Altar of Flame Kit | Build the altar to attract Moltres |
Once befriended, the Legendary Birds can travel with you to any area and move into houses like regular Pokemon.
Other Exclusive Pokemon
Beyond the Eevee family and Legendary Birds, several other Pokemon are exclusive to Palette Town. These Pokemon will only appear if their habitat is placed in Palette Town, even if the same habitat type exists in other areas. All Palette Town exclusive Pokemon are Common rarity.
Pokemon | Habitat | Components |
|---|---|---|
Machop | Boulder-Shaded Tall Grass | Tall Grass x4, Large Boulder x1 |
Geodude | Tall Grass | Tall Grass x4 |
Magby | Pretty Flower Bed | Wildflowers x4 |
Scizor | Tree-Shaded Tall Grass | Tall Grass x4, Tall Tree x1 |
Skwovet | Tree-Shaded Tall Grass | Tall Grass x4, Tall Tree x1 |
Cramorant | Hydrated Tall Grass | Tall Grass x4, Water x2 |
Special Challenges
Special Challenges are Palette Town-specific tasks that unlock recipe items needed for Eeveelution habitats and other rewards. They track various activities performed in Palette Town, such as growing flowers, powering machines, building roads, and befriending Pokemon. Progress can be checked at the Pokemon Center PC.
Completing Special Challenges provides:
Unique food items required for Eeveelution habitats
Habitat construction reward items
Exclusive crafting recipes
All-Region Flora
In the four story areas, grass, flower, and hedge types are region-specific (each biome restricts certain varieties). In Palette Town, this restriction is lifted: players can use all types of flowers and grass from every region, providing maximum creative freedom for habitat design and decoration. This means habitats that require region-specific materials (like Red Tall Grass from Rocky Ridges or Pink Tall Grass from Sparkling Skylands) can all be built in Palette Town.
Multiplayer Hub
Palette Town serves as the primary zone for multiplayer activities:
Co-Op Building: Up to four players can build together simultaneously in Palette Town. The area is shared to other players when playing in co-op mode. Other story areas are exploration-only for visitors.
Visiting Friends: When visiting another player's world via Link Play, you gain access to their version of Palette Town, including all their builds and customizations.
Cloud Islands: A separate persistent multiplayer mode where friends share a co-op island that can be played even when the host is offline. Items cannot transfer back to the main game, but recipes learned on Cloud Islands carry over.
Star Piece Trading: If either player encounters an unfamiliar Pokemon during multiplayer, they can use a Star Piece to send it to their own world.
GameShare Sessions: Players on the original Nintendo Switch (via GameShare compatibility) are limited to Palette Town when connecting with Switch 2 players.
Creative Building
Palette Town's large open space and flat terrain make it ideal for ambitious building projects. Without the environmental obstacles and story constraints of other areas, players have maximum creative freedom.
The area starts mostly blank, allowing for custom layouts and themed neighborhoods.
Players can construct elaborate structures, design villages, and experiment with different architectural styles.
The post-game move Magnet Rise (vertical flight and mid-air block placement) is particularly useful here for tall constructions.
Roads can be built using blocks; the Umbreon challenge requires 300 road blocks, encouraging infrastructure development.
Lifts can be installed for vertical transportation; the Glaceon challenge requires 5 lifts.
The area can be renamed at any time via the Pokemon Center PC to match the player's creative vision.
Long after the credits roll, Palette Town remains a place to expand and refine, turning Pokopia into a true sandbox.
Differences from Story Areas
Feature | Palette Town | Story Areas |
|---|---|---|
Story progression | No main story quests or Important Requests | Important Requests drive Trainer Rank advancement |
Pokemon Center | Rebuilding is NOT required for credits | All four must be rebuilt to see credits |
Environment Level | Has its own level, but not tied to credits | Must reach level 5 in each story area for credits |
Multiplayer | Full co-op building allowed for up to 4 players | Exploration only for visitors |
Terrain | Mostly flat and open (blank canvas) | Pre-built terrain with story-specific features |
Exclusive Pokemon | Eevee family, Legendary Birds, and others ONLY appear here | Each area has unique Pokemon but most are not area-restricted |
Flora | All grass, flower, and hedge types from every region available | Each area has region-specific flora (e.g., Damp Hedge, Stylish Hedge) |
Tips
Visit Palette Town early to trigger Eevee's appearance. Sylveon's unlock condition (encounter 10 different Pokemon) and Espeon's condition (get a Pokemon housemate) are easy to achieve early on.
Umbreon requires the largest grind: 300 road blocks built AND nighttime play. Start placing road blocks early so the challenge completes alongside normal play.
Jolteon's unlock (power 50 machines) requires significant electrical infrastructure. Complete Bleak Beach's electricity questline first to learn the system.
Vaporeon's unlock (12 different flower seeds) is achievable by collecting seeds from all five areas as you progress through the story.
Build the Legendary Bird habitat kits in Palette Town because of the large open space. The Abandoned Power Plant Kit for Zapdos especially needs room.
Use Palette Town as your experimentation area. Since there's no story to disrupt, you can try building techniques and habitat layouts risk-free.
Share your Palette Town creations with friends through co-op or Cloud Islands multiplayer modes.
Since all region flora types are available in Palette Town, you can build every habitat type here for maximum Pokemon variety.