PIKMIN

A SHORT STORY

DAY 1

Today my ship crashed on this deserted planet. My ship, the Dolphin, is in shambles. My best hope is to find some help to repair it. I will start looking immediately.

I started to explore the planet's environment and my readings indicate that it is filled with deadly oxygen, a gas that my kind is weak to. With the amount of gas left in my space suit, I would guess that I have about 30 days to reside on this planet before I die a most gruesome death. I must find a way to repair my ship and return home to my planet, Hocotate.

I explored some more of the planet's terrain today and stumbled across something that resembled an onion. As soon as I approached it, it popped up from the ground and glowed red. It looks like some kind of spacecraft. When it came out of the ground, a red seed shot out of its top. Curiosity got the best of me and I examined the sprout in the ground. I pulled it out of the ground and out came a red alien creature. I decided to call it a Pikmin.

Leaf Top

Stem

Body

This Pikmin apparently evolves shortly over time from a leaf to a flower. He found nectar in nearby grass and that seemed to change the leaf to a flower very quickly. As I have observed, when it is a flower, it is very weak and slow, when it is a bud, it is at medium level, and when it is a flower it is at its strongest stage.

Another interesting discovery I have found is that the Pikmin carry tiny pellets found around the world to their onions and sprout more Pikmin. Amazing! I wonder how it knows to do that….

After gathering up a few pellets, I have sprouted about 30 Pikmin. I wonder why they follow me and do as I order…. Perhaps I resemble a god of theirs? Strange to think of such things...

I led the Pikmin into the woods and there, right in front of us, was the Dolphin's engine! I should know, too! It has my name on it! "Belonging to Captain Olimar." Of course, I could not carry the large engine by myself, so I got a brilliant idea. I called the Pikmin to carry it directly to my ship. And they did it!

By the end of the day, I helped the Pikmin repair the Dolphin's engine right to the bottom of it, so now I can try to fly my ship once more!

When night drew near, I saw the strangest thing…

Red eyes glowed from the darkness and the Pikmin gathered right behind me. Strange, but apparently they are afraid of nocturnal creatures on this planet…. So I have decided to leave them in their onion so I can take off without any guilt feelings.

It seems when I took off; the Pikmin followed me in their onion.

DAY 2

After seeing the Pikmin pursuing me in their onion, I looked at the interior of my ship and saw the gauge in front of me and it was reading that I could not break the atmosphere. This was not good and then, I crashed again.

I did not crash as bad as before, mind you I landed right side up, but luckily I landed at the crack of dawn when the Pikmin are not afraid of anything they can see.

When I got out of my ship, the Pikmin exited their onion and lined up in a single file line. Before I could ponder anything else, I saw something shining a few feet to the north. It was my radar! With that I could locate all my ship parts with ease!

I commanded my Pikmin to go and get it but when they got halfway there, something blocked them. It strangely looked like my pet back home. I have decided to name it a Bulborb.

Big Beady Eyes

Vicious Fangs

Large Mouth

Tiny Feet

Oh sure, the little sketch I made doesn't look so menacing, but when YOU are my size compared to these they are much more frightening, trust me.

So the Pikmin were not too thrilled when I told them to try to attack it. One did try to destroy the monster, but another grabbed its arm and told it to stop. So, being their leader, I gave them a good motivational speech, despite the fact that they cannot understand a word I speak. But that did not matter, for they understood what I was trying to say and jumped onto the Bulborb and killed it. Then as soon as it fell, I did a head count and I did not lose any of them.

After that, they carried it back to the Dolphin. We left it right there and turned it on. On the screen it was very static but after a few slaps to the monitor, it was clear as day. I reprogrammed the radar to show where each ship part was. As complicated as it sounded, it was quite easy to do. And it worked.

About three kilometers away, there was my Nova Blaster, Eternal Fuel Dynamo, and the Extraordinary Bolt. Oh jubilations! I will leave this journal down right here just in case.

Dear lord… dear lord! So many Bulborbs in that forest, no wonder the tiny Pikmin were scared to death at night! This is what happened when I left the journal:

We left the camp in search of the Nova Blaster and we saw four baby Bulborbs. And right next to it was a giant sleeping mother Bulborb. One woke up and started to bark. That woke up the other three and the started barking even louder. The, sadly, the mother woke up and spotted us. We stood there frozen and then it got up. All five got up and charged at us.

I couldn't do anything, the Pikmin were so confidant because they were able to kill that first Bulborb. They attacked the babies and that made the mother angry. VERY ANGRY. After seeing her children brutally murdered before her eyes, she charged at the Pikmin. 25 of the 30 died there. It is very gruesome to think about.

I grabbed the rest of the five Pikmin and brought them back to the base. As I write this, they are sitting right next to me speaking to each other in their language.

Dear lord. That mother Bulborb is coming for us right now. I'll put down this notebook to…. Wait… Do my eyes deceive me? Are those Pikmin attacking it? Why, yes! The Bulborb has fallen. The Pikmin are walking toward me. They are yellow….

Leaf Top

Stem

Large Ears

Delicate Hands

The yellow Pikmin stared at me and jumped off of the dead body. Strangely they use their large ears to float so, maybe…

When I encountered a yellow Pikmin, it acted just like the red ones. I thought that they would allow me to touch them, which they did, and I grabbed it. I threw him and wouldn't you know it, he went higher as he was thrown.

These Pikmin all crowded around them, coincidently, there were five yellows, too. I saw the sun setting and decided it was time to search for their onion.

About a few feet from the dead Bulborb children, I found a yellow onion standing behind a tree. I sent them into it, as the sun was setting. My red Pikmin descended into their colored onion as well and I climbed into my ship.

As we departed, I saw a frightening image. As the onion just left the ground, three Bulborbs charged toward it, but barely missed it. I can see why the Pikmin do not like the darkness very much. If only they could see in the dark…. Would they still follow me if they do not need protection at night? Oh all of the questions I will have when I escape this planet…

IF I escape this planet…

In the middle of the night, I awoke from a dream. All I could see was the faces of the frightened Pikmin. Right before the mother devoured the Pikmin. I must avenge those brave souls by collecting many pellets tomorrow as well as collect the rest of my ship parts in the forest. I hope to find all of them in this forest. Hmmm… perhaps I will call this place

"The Forest of Hope."

DAY 3

I started off this day by commanding my Pikmin to collect the pellets near the campsite. Out of the two onions popped out many seeds. In total, I have 50 Pikmin in my battalion now. I should not have more than 100 in it because I think they will be too reckless and end up getting themselves killed.

Back to where the massacre happened, I found that the children were gone. Have they been taken to a place in memorial, or have they been eaten? I would put my money on the second one…

We collected the Nova Blaster that we couldn't get. With 50 Pikmin carrying it, they went much faster to the campsite. Amazing how such simple little creatures can work together to help out a stranger like myself.

Yes! Now that I have my Nova Blaster, I can destroy anything that I find travelling through the depths of space. And I think I saw something shiny over by where I found the Nova Blaster.

I cannot believe I forgot that two other parts were there! I got 25 Pikmin to carry each part back, so I now possess my Eternal Fuel Dynamo and the Extraordinary Bolt! This is going so fast… I will most likely be able to escape within 30 days!

The Pikmin and I continued to travel through the woods when we came across a large stonewall. This was very strange… why would a large cement wall be standing alone out here in the forest? Could there be other human inhabitance on this planet?

I tried to get the Pikmin to break the wall, but their hands almost broke because of how solid it was. I thought about using my Nova Blaster to blow it up but remembered it is out of ammo… I must pick up some on my way home!

One of the Pikmin tapped my shoulder and pointed towards a large titanium can. Inside, there were many tiny rocks. I touched one and it exploded! I call these stones Bomb Rocks. One of the yellow Pikmin walked over to it and I tried to stop him, but apparently yellow Pikmin can pick up Bomb Rocks without them erupting. Then I had a brilliant idea.

I brought the yellows over to the wall and them drop as many Bomb Rocks as possible. Like I thought, the wall crumbled before my eyes. And right behind it was my Radiation Canopy! Just in time, too. The sun was beginning to set. And right as the sun went down, we put the Radiation Canopy back on the Dolphin.

Then we took off. That was a very successful day for me. I collected three ship parts. Perhaps tomorrow I can improve my flying capabilities and search for ship parts in another area. But for now, I rest.