Editing The Key

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'''The Key''' ({{j|あのカギ|Ano Kagi|The Key}}) is a treasure in ''[[Pikmin 2]]'', whose name is the only one among the treasures that describes itself exactly. It is a large, golden {{w|lock and key|key}}. The Key is found inside the body of a [[Beady Long Legs]] on the final sublevel of the [[Citadel of Spiders]]. Besides increasing the [[Poko]] total, The Key unlocks [[Challenge Mode (Pikmin 2)|Challenge Mode]], which can be found in the [[Menu#Title screen|main menu]] after the treasure has been collected. It is the only part of the [[Explorer's Friend Series]] that is not found in the [[Exploration Kit]].

In ''Pikmin 2''{{'s}} [[Challenge Mode (Pikmin 2)|Challenge Mode]], this treasure is found on every sublevel of every one of the 30 levels. It is required to make the entrance to the next sublevel – or a [[geyser]] – appear, and is worth 100 Pokos.

P2 Artwork The Key.png|Artwork of The Key.

P2 The Key Cutscene.png|The Key's discovery cutscene.

P2 The Key Location.png|The Key in the [[Citadel of Spiders]].

P2 The Key Collected.png|The Key being analyzed by the [[Hocotate ship]].

P2 The Key Treasure Hoard.png|The Key in the [[Treasure Hoard]].

The Key P2S icon.png|The Treasure Hoard icon of The Key in [[Pikmin 2 (Nintendo Switch)|the Nintendo Switch version of ''Pikmin 2'']].

Super Mario World Key.png|A key from ''[[mariowiki:Super Mario World|Super Mario World]]''.

*The Key bears a [[Reference|striking resemblance]] to the [[mariowiki:Key|keys]] in ''[[mariowiki:Super Mario World|Super Mario World]]'', which open [[mariowiki:Keyhole|keyholes]] leading to secret stages.

*In his journal entry for The Key, Olimar calls the [[Beady Long Legs]] a "Pikmin-''devouring'' spider", even though the creature cannot devour Pikmin, only crush them.