Whirl Islands

The Whirl Islands (Japanese: うずまきじま Whirlpool Islands) are a small archipelago located between the mainland of Johto and Cianwood City, on. Beneath the sea, a maze of dark caves sprawl, with explorers able to travel between the four islands with some amount of difficulty. Deep within these caves, can be found once the undefined has obtained the Silver Wing and Tidal Bell.

Named after the dangerous s that surround them, some parts of the Whirl Islands are mysterious and largely inaccessible. Children in Olivine City are told that bad kids are sent to the islands.

As explained in, the Whirl Islands used to be one large island. At some point in time, there were two countries fighting over the island. Lugia, the guardian of the island, got upset and cast lightning bolts to tear the island into four pieces. It then disappeared into the deep end of the waterfall basin, longing for the invisible trust between people and Pokémon to manifest once more.

In the anime
The depiction of the islands is far different in the anime. Instead of being deserted, it contains many towns and other inhabitable areas. The Whirl Islands are home to the Whirl Cup, a competition held once every three years for Pokémon Trainers who specialize in.

Rumors circulate that families of reside there. A mother Lugia and her baby,, were sought by Dr. Namba and did, in fact, reveal themselves.

There are four main islands, with many smaller ones scattered throughout. Together, the islands in the archipelago form a spiral shape.

The table below shows the islands which make up the Whirl Islands:

According to the Nurse Joy on Blue Point Isle, the climate varies from island to island.

The Whirl Islands were mentioned in Stealing the Conversation! when an Officer Jenny said she had been relocated there.

The Whirl Islands first appeared in Really Remoraid, where Morty was able to locate and  there at Lt. Surge's request. The two Pokédex holders had been brought to the islands by to recover after they had been defeated by the Masked Man at the Lake of Rage. After dealing with a herd of wild, Gold and Silver were attacked by. , having arrived at the islands as well, soon joined the other two Trainers in their battle against Lugia. Gold was eventually able to lodge Lugia's mouth open with his, thus preventing it from using anymore. During the battle, the Pokédex holders' three starter Pokémon evolved simultaneously. Although Crystal came close to Lugia, the Poké Ball that she had tried to use on it turned out to be empty. As the group's Pokédexes' tracking functions couldn't find Lugia either, they came to realize that someone else had managed to capture Lugia before Crystal's Poké Ball made contact with it.

Later, Silver traveled to a secret chamber in the Whirl Islands. In order to access it, he needed to use all the different HM moves to get past the natural obstacles protecting its entrance: his 's  to calm down a raging whirlpool, his 's  to split up the waterfall covering the entrance, and his 's  to ride across the pool of water in front of it. In the chamber, he encountered its owner, Lance, whom he returned the he had borrowed from him to, after which he demanded information about the Masked Man's plans from him. Using the clues at his disposal, Lance was able to figure out that the Masked Man's goal was to control.

In Dealing with a Koffing Fit, Silver returned to Lance's chamber, only to find Clair there instead of Lance. Clair, having been unable to contact her cousin for a while, had come to investigate the chamber to see if she could find Lance there. However, the two soon found themselves surrounded by a massive group of. Silver was easily able to defeat them all with his Pokémon, even a suspicious item from one of them in the process. As a result of all the experience gained during the battle, Silver's and  then proceeded to evolve into  and, respectively. Following a clue from Clair, Silver decided to head out to the next.

Trivia

 * The whirlpools are based on the real world on the . The islands are based on  and its surrounding islands.
 * In, a guest at Hotel Grand Lake by Lake Valor mentions a at Whirl Islands.
 * Since the HM is not required to go down waterfalls in Generation II, it is possible to get to  without it. A series of ladders starting below the waterfall allows players to return to the entrance.

In other languages
Strudelinseln Islas Remolino Tourb'Îles Isole Vorticose うずまきじま 漩涡列岛