Pikmin: The Flora and Fauna
Red Bulborbs and Buried Batteries
Captain Olimar sat at a small table, one gloved hand on his face. He was a man with three well groomed brown hairs, a rather large round nose, and two lines for eyes. He appeared to be wearing some sort of yellow spacesuit, sitting on a small pipe stool. A round window to his right shown with the barely visible light of stars in the evening sky.
Olimar of Hocotate Freight is a man, or alien on a mission. Soon after escaping a particularly nasty crash landing on an alien planet, with the help of curious specimen called Pikmin, he made his way home in his spaceship, greeted by the boss of his company and an employee named Louie. Unfortunately, debt problems and the fact that Louie managed to lose precious cargo spelled disaster, as Olimar's ship was sold, barely paying off any debt the company owed. However, now, after a souvenir Olimar brought home was scanned and deemed a treasure, he is back on the planet he crash-landed on, scouring the land for treasure the company can sell to pay off debts. Thing is, even with the re-enlisted help of the Pikmin species and Louie at his side, it proves extremely difficult for the captain and his compadre, wildlife and hazards all around the planet, some inches higher than them making it difficult for any type of treasure hunting. Oh, and Olimar, Louie, and the Pikmin are hardly taller than pennies, for whatever reason, in comparison to everything else on the planet at least. And actual pennies.
Now, Captain Olimar, sitting by his ship's table, looked over a chart with various pictures of alien species, some ranging from fierce to friendly. All of a sudden, Olimar's face lit up, the small man taking a closer look at the chart. Tapping on the face of a creature, the chart zoomed in on the nasty blighter. Olimar, pulling up a keyboard on the side of the desk, began typing, reading out what he was typing as he did so.
"Red Bulborbs…" He began, reflecting off to a previous day.
Olimar ran, a large creature doing its best to sprint after him. The creature in question had large eyestalks with blue pupils eyeing the captain with a hunger in its eyes. The creature hobbled after him on two skinny legs supporting its large body, though the creature was making a good pace, hungrily chasing after the captain. Olimar dodged and weaved through bushes of clovers and grass sprouts, the creature still very close on his tail.
He ducked behind a decaying log, breathing in and out. He looked around. More bushes and tall ridges forming a lane in the ground. As he breathed in the air of his spacesuit, he silently attempted to formulate a plan. His Pikmin were all back at the base camp, nesting in their Onions. That was meters away to him, and they were all behind the monstrosity tailing him. So, he persevered through the bushes, sprouts, and other such natural obstacles while the Bulborb bumbled on after him.
Eventually, Olimar tired out, lying down in a safe spot behind a large oak tree, the rampage of the ladybug-esque creature drowned in in the distance. He continually breathed in and out rapidly, sucking in the precious air still left in his tank. He sighed, leaning back on the tree, landing on something in the process. Olimar blinked, standing back up quickly, somewhat frightfully. He peered down at the dirt. A gleaming object was stuck in the ground, sticking out, a circular, flat silver sheen glinting out of the dirt. Olimar gulped, touching the top. It felt smooth to the touch. He glanced about. Still no sign of the Bulborb creature. Stooping down, he attempted to dig it out, finding that the earth was solid and difficult to extract from. Olimar sighed, shaking his head, quickly giving up on the endeavor.
That was until he heard a squeak. Olimar looked about, among the other larger trees in the forest. He frowned. The curious, high-pitched sound emanated once more from its unknown hiding spot. Olimar looked up through his space helmet, gulping.
"Whee!" Something cheered, hopping on his helmet.
Olimar stumbled back in fright. A yellow specimen dangled from his helmet's antenna, squeaking happily. It was a frail, small yellow creature, resembling a carrot with legs. It was yellow, four tiny limbs grappling to the antenna like it was a ride, two ears wiggling cheerfully overhead, with an antenna of its own sticking out the top of its head, displaying a flower bud, white and ready to bloom at any moment.
Olimar stared at the Pikmin. It was happily dangling around on his helmet, until it spotted Olimar underneath it. It made a sound akin to an "Oh!", then hopped off, standing in front of Olimar dutifully. Olimar could not help but grin at the little creature's happy demeanor, waving towards it with a sort of a humor. The humor was dispelled when Olimar heard a shuffling noise behind him.
The Yellow Pikmin's eyes, if they were not already huge enough, expanded to the size of satellite dishes once it spotted what Olimar had heard. The bulbulous, bug-eyed predator was back. And it was glaring at the two. Olimar stared back, his normally relaxed, line-like pupils expanding to that of the Pikmin. A silent standoff ensued. Suddenly, the Bulborb began to open its mouth, whether to snarl or something, until a parade of squeaks sounded off from above. Its stalk, bulging eyes stared up.
It yelped as dozens of Yellow Pikmin landed on top of it, smacking its exposed irises and flesh with their tiny hands and larger, but still tiny bulbs. The Bulborb screeched, shaking some off with a shake of its head. Huffing, it started chasing after the shaken off Pikmin, growling terribly.
Olimar stared at the ferocity of the Pikmin with an astounded stare. As he did so, he felt a tug on his arm. Glancing to the side, he realized his yellow companion he had met earlier, was pointing forward, with a curious gaze. Something clicked inside of Olimar. On instinct, he took two fingers, placed them in front of his space helmet, and blew. Ignoring the logic behind that, a shrill whistle pierced the air. Yellow Pikmin still running about paused for a moment, the Bulborb also pausing for a brief moment, before they all assembled together, dashing towards the space captain, the Bulborb chasing after them, seeking vengeance for its sore back and twitching eye.
But Olimar came prepared. Or at least his mind did, as the only tools he needed was something to whistle with, and something to throw with. Which both happened to be his hands at the moment. Quickly, Olimar took hold behind him, standing poised to throw. The object in question?
A living carrot.
With calculated precision and speed, Olimar began chucking Yellow Pikmin, all uttering some form of high-pitched battle cry as they were flung, spinning through the air. They landed on the muzzle and eyes of the Bulborb, stunning it momentarily. It yelped again, attempting to clear its vision. While it tried and failed to wipe them off its face, Olimar tread past, his battalion of plant people following behind, waiting for his next command. Approaching the back of the beast, Olimar pointed towards the red and white speckled back of the Bulborb, a battle charge sounding off as he did so. With organized intent, the Pikmin began to, hardly mincing words here, attack the back of the Bulborb, the beast roaring even moreso now that its backside was under siege.
The Bulborb was not one to go down with a fight, however. With a wild shake, it smacked off a few of the budding soldiers, all hitting the ground with groans. The shake also momentarily smacked Olimar to the side, a buzz in his suit registering that he had taken damage. Olimar groaned, dazily getting to his feet. His eyes expanded once more. A few of the Pikmin shook off were consumed by the beast, each going down with a sad cry. He could swear he saw their yellow spirits leave the earth for the skies. He frowned, his eyes switching back to their default line shapes. He called the other Pikmin with another whistle somehow piercing through his space helmet out into the air without a whistle, (at least until the third installment) the remaining troops dashing off to meet Olimar, who, was also currently sprinting away from the enemy. The little carrots followed Olimar, running side by side in terror.
The following chase was essentially a recap of the morning, only Olimar had a larger company running with him. They had just about escaped the Red Bulborb, the only issue being the loud thumping it created as it chased after them. It was a constant reminder that the beast was following them, tracking them, and hungry. Olimar stumbled about the sprouts and weeds sticking out of the earth, halting for a moment. He glanced around at the large hills and the defined, natural path leading ahead. He knew this place.
Olimar grinned very lightly. With a gesture of his hand, he had the Pikmin pick up the pace behind him, the little creatures squeaking and clambering to follow the space captain. Weaving through twigs stuck in the dirt, the wild Pikmin followed Olimar. As they did so, they noticed the hills serving as walls began spreading out more, almost becoming a ring. They skidded to a halt, a few smacking into the backs of each other, a few squabbling in their incoherent pixie language. They ceased their bickering eventually, staring in front of them with a newfound curiosity and amazement.
A silicone, cylindrical ship pointed up into the sky, three oddly shaped pods scattered in a circle with the three primary colors, also standing on three prolonged legs of sorts. The Yellow Pikmin marveled at the objects.
A shrill whistle snapped the yellow organisms out of their doldrums. Olimar was in the middle of them all, pointing in two separate directions. The Pikmin gladly obeyed, dispersing into two groups while Olimar hurried towards the colored objects.
The Bulborb snapped a twig in its haste, towering over the grass blades and bumbling past logs angrily. It hissed, looking around with its great, blue pupils. Looking ahead into a plain clearing, it could vaguely make out a flower bud, moving erratically. The Bulborb smirked in a way only a Bulborb could with its… Odd facial structure. The Bulborb began bounding ahead, excitement and the prospect of food blocking out everything else in his head.
The trap was sprung. Similar in stature to their yellow brethren, red and blue cousins of the Yellow Pikmin sprung out, red noses and blues with gills resembling mouths charging forward, numbering in a cluster of a hundred. The Bulborb blinked, hardly slowing down, charging into the fray regardless, and opened its maw.
"Originally classified as the spotty bulborb…" Olimar typed studiously, "Further research has reclassified this species as the red bulborb."
With a content sigh, Olimar closed the laptop shut, leaning back on his chair. He looked out the window onto the clearing and the sky. It was growing late, and the buzz of the energy flowing from the computer was the only sound. Aside from an odd… Sizzling sound?
Olimar blinked. He got up and out of his chair, taking the round, detached space helmet next to the chair, planting it on his head, making his way through the metal interior. He climbed through the ship, through a tube leading up, finding himself in a clear, round half-sphere glass. He peered through, pushing outwards and up, pushing the glass off with a hiss. Quickly, he leapt out, the glass slamming shut behind him.
"Be mindful to preserve your air! I'm not running a charity here!" A voice boomed.
Turning back to the ship, Olimar rolled his eyes, nodding. The nosecone of the ship, a horn of sorts protruding outwards, seemed to hum with a pleased demeanor. Olimar sniffed using his large, round nose, then found what appeared to be the source of the sizzle and the scent.
The bulborb that had previously chased the others was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a party of Pikmin were gathered around a fire pit, graciously taking from a roasted… thing, covered in strips of bacon, with the scent of lime coming off of the meal. Standing next to the spit, rotating the meal, was a tall man, at least for the miniature size of the current creatures, garbed in a space suit similar to Olimar's, only blue. The man turned around to Olimar, waving boredly. He pointed towards the food.
"Louie, where did you…?" Olimar asked.
Louie picked up a red cap, speckled with white dots on it, the pieces roasted as well. Olimar blinked, staring at the scene, then frowned, shaking his head. The Pikmin on the other hand seemed quite pleased with their meals, nibbling on the meat, some placing down their meals under the three-legged objects. A light extending from underneath graciously absorbed the meals, then returned the favor, shooting colored seeds out of their flowering tops.
Olimar slowly switched to a smile. Here his companion, Louie, was serving food like a master chef to an army of grateful plants. He was about to say something, but glanced up at the sky. He blinked. The sun was dropping. Frowning, he looked to each and every one of the Pikmin. At first, they did not notice the droopy, bright orb in the sky. A whistle however, alerted them all. Quickly, the scrambled, some carrying leftover steaks with them. They hustled up, finishing the last of their meal, up the legs of the strange objects. Holes meant for the legs served as entrances for the Pikmin, which they gladly took, returning to their homes. Olimar stared at Louie, who frowned in response, quickly shaving two pieces off of the smoking remnants of the beast, making his way over to meet Olimar.
"Hurry up! Time's a wastin'!" The ship called.
The two spacemen stood in front of the ship. The top of the ship leaned back in a way, allowing a hole in the top of the ship to pop out. In a flash of light, the two were "beamed" into the ship, landing in the glass cockpits.
Olimar blinked, taking off his helmet with a sigh. A steak fell in front of him. He blinked again. A knocking on the other side of the ship was heard. Looking straight ahead, Louie seemed to be excitably pointing down towards the food. Olimar frowned, tilting his head. Louie's next expression was that of a, "Just taste it!" type.
Olimar stared down at the steak worriedly. He picked it up, slowly bringing it up to his mouth, and chewed. Moist, roasted, tasted decent. He nodded over to Louie, who seemed to be writing something down in his cockpit.
"...to ensure a magnificently moist haunch." He wrote, then added, "First recipe a success!" underneath.
Turning back up to Olimar across from him, he gave him a thumbs-up, which Olimar nodded at. With all that said and done, the two's ship and the objects, resembling onions flying behind them, took off into space, suspending themselves high above the atmosphere, awaiting the next day patiently.
AN: I wanted a descriptive, adventurous version of the Piklopedia. So, here you go! I might split up the Olimar and Louie notes if I decide to make this a story I'd continue.
But in the meantime, thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, off to find some steak, see you.