Cerulean Cave

Cerulean Cave (Japanese: ハナダのどうくつ Hanada Cave) is a cave located in the northwest corner of Cerulean City in Kanto.

In Generation I, the cave was inconsistently referred to as the Unknown Dungeon (Japanese: ななしのどうくつ Nameless Cave) in addition to its name. This moniker would later be reused for the in Kalos, which is a direct reference to Cerulean Cave.

In the games
Cerulean Cave is home to a wide variety of high-level wild Pokémon. inhabits the deepest part of the cave.

The Pokémon League only permits s who have entered the Hall of Fame to enter. In, undefineds must further prove themselves before entering the cave, which is done by completing the quest on Sevii Islands and restoring the Network Machine of the Pokémon Network Center to operational status.

In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, more Pokémon can be found only by fishing, while there are fewer different species of wild Pokémon found by walking around in the cave.

In Generation II, Cerulean Cave completely collapsed but the leftovers of Mewtwo's presence remain and are found in the lake near the cave, in the form of the item Berserk Gene. In, Cerulean Cave has been rebuilt and Mewtwo can once again be found inside. An NPC blocks the entrance until the player has obtained all eight Kanto Gym Badges (as opposed to defeating the Pokémon League at Indigo Plateau, the requirement in the Generation I games and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen).

Geography
Cerulean Cave is a large underground complex of maze-like tunnels which extend out from Cerulean City to the mountains beyond. With the dark entrance positioned on the outskirts of Cerulean City, only accessible by ing down to the entrance near the northern border of Cerulean City, the cave has been renowned for its mystery. The entrance to the cave looks like it has been carved out from a hillside, forming an indented entrance into the hill. An NPC guards the entrance to the cave and only allows s who own all eight Kanto Gym Badges and have entered the Hall of Fame to enter.

At the deepest point of the cave lives, a that can only be found in Cerulean Cave. Mewtwo was created by man in the before it became too powerful and escaped, exiling itself to the cave, never to be seen again.

Cerulean Cave has had many different layouts over time, getting a change from not only one generation to the next but also from one game release to the next. Despite these changes, the first floor is mostly unaffected and has a large underground lake which covers most of the area. Using the complex of stairs and ladders, Trainers can make their way around the lake and the first floor of the cave. They will reach the upper floor, which has no underground river, but a like maze-like structure formed by large boulders and rocks that must be maneuvered around in order to reach the end. Once Trainers get through the maze formation, they are able to climb the ladders and get around the underground lake on the basement floor, which will lead them straight to a dead end and to Mewtwo.

Generation I
Cerulean Cave is not listed as a Pokédex area in the Generation I games. Therefore, any Pokémon that can only be found in Cerulean Cave is listed as "Area Unknown" by the in these games.

Layout
The layout of the cave has been tweaked several times in the past, particularly in Generation I.

In, it has been restored to the original layout found in , with the addition of boulders.

In, the layout of the first and second floors is based on the equivalent layout from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, while the layout of the basement is based on the respective layout from. Rock Smash boulders are also present and surfaces were added.

In Pokémon Origins
Cerulean Cave appeared in File 4: Charizard. It was first mentioned by, who had went to the cave after hearing rumors of an extremely strong Pokémon living in there. He intended to catch it, but got badly injured while battling it when his was sent flying and crashed on top of him. After he had told Professor Oak and about this, Red soon recalled the  he had found at the  at Cinnabar Island, and understood that the mysterious Pokémon was in fact, an artificial Pokémon created by enhanching the powers of.

Wanting to help Professor Oak to complete the Pokédex, Red then headed to Cerulean Cave, where he encountered Mewtwo. Being amazingly strong and, Mewtwo was capable of defeating almost all of Red's Pokémon, excluding only his. At first, even Charizard was losing, and was sent into the waters of the cave, along with Red. However, Red's Key Stone and Charizard's Mega Stone then activated, Mega Evolving Charizard into Mega Charizard X and making it able to defeat Mewtwo, allowing Red to catch it.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
Cerulean Cave appeared in And Mewtwo Too?! and And Mewtwo... Three!. Upon hearing from about a monster that had caused massive destruction in the northwest sector of Cerulean City,  went to investigate Cerulean Cave, where the monster was said to have fled to. Once Red arrived at the cave, he and were soon caught in a tornado, which seemed to originate from inside the cave. Red and his Pokémon were saved from being blown away by Blaine and his. Blaine explained that the tornado was actually, a move capable of both attacking and defending at the same time, and the user of the move was , the "beast" sighted in Cerulean City.

To Red's horror, Blaine revealed that he, while working as a scientist in Team Rocket, had been involved in Mewtwo's creation. Since Team Rocket had been unable to get enough of 's DNA to complete the Genetic Pokémon, Blaine had finished it by using cells from his own arm. In the process, some of Mewtwo's cells ended up in his arm, causing it to be horribly mutatated. This also gave both him and Mewtwo the ability to sense each other's presence. However, the mutated cells in his arm were slowly spreading to the rest of his body, and would eventually kill him. Realizing what kind of an abomination he had created, Blaine had subsequently left Team Rocket.

Blaine was determined to destroy the monster he himself had created, even if it would cost him his life. After putting Red inside of a protective fireball, he and Rapidash charged through the Psywave tornado at Mewtwo, creating a massive explosion. Despite the hit, Mewtwo was still capable of fighting. As Blaine was down for the count, Red tried to battle Mewtwo himself, sending out Poli. However, Mewtwo easily knocked the Tadpole Pokémon back with a giant spoon it created. Blaine explained that Mewtwo would form its Psywave into a tornado while fighting multiple enemies at once, and into a spoon for a single enemy. This gave Red an idea, and he sent out all of his Pokémon, causing Mewtwo to switch into its tornado tactic again. However, before the tornado got to full power, Red dived into the eye of the storm with Aero, and sent Pika diving further down into Mewtwo itself, capturing it with the Master Ball Blaine had given Red just moments earlier. Afterwards, Red gave Mewtwo to Blaine, telling him to teach it the kindness of humans, before heading off to the Indigo Plateau.

Trivia

 * In the Generation I handheld games, the nest feature of the Pokédex never displays Pokémon as appearing in Cerulean Cave, likely to keep its existence as a secret until the player beats the game. However, the Pokémon Stadium games do display Pokémon appearing here.

In other languages
Azuria-Höhle Cueva Celeste Caverne Azurée Grotta Celeste ハナダのどうくつ 华蓝洞窟