(A/N: All right, a mystery is about to unfold, dun, dun, DUUUUNNNNN!)

Evolution's Hardest Turn

The weather has vastly changed in the Awakening Wood. Olimar jumped out of his ship only to see gas pipes bursting from the ground, emitting their poisonous fumes. Everyone else followed behind him. Unlike the other pipes Olimar had encountered, these ones looked like they can not be defeated or shut off, they also had a perculliar watery color. They were immortal to Pikmin attacks.

"Louie, run back to the ship and bring out a White Pikmin." Louie did as he was told and brought back the white sprout. "All right, if this works, we are safe as the ships, if it doesn't, we're dead." Olimar explained. "So, no pressure."

He took the Pikmin around the stalk and threw it at the fume. When it made contact with it, Olimar, Louie, and the President all were shocked. Instead of usually standing idle next to it, the Pikmin started to run around frantically, it was panicking as though it had seen a Mitite, the only animal known to scare a Pikmin.

"OLIMAR, CALL IT BACK!!" Louie shouted frantically. Olimar blew his whistle and the Pik ran back up to him and shivered.

"It seems that this isn't poison at all." he said. "It's more like a certain scent...or a fume that does something to their innards, but whatever it is, it seems to block our view and our exploration space."

"You are inferring that the White Pikmin doesn't like the smell? And that's it?" Prof. Nye asked.

"Well, I don't know. Louie, take out a Green, let's see if it works."

"You got it!" Louie took out a Green Pikmin. Olimar threw it and the Pikmin did the same as the white. Louie blew his whistle and brought back the green. Olimar commanded for a red, and it too did the same as the other two Pikmin. In frustration, Olimar threw his whsitle on the ground.

"Okay, this is our final chance, it's a long shot, but it might just work." Olimar said. "Louie...retreive a Purple Pikmin." Purple Pikmin were not immune to any element the other's stood a chance against. However, it may work. Louie threw the Purple to Olimar.

This time, Olimar had to chuck the Pikmin with both hands. It thumped against the ground and wasn't effected. Instead, the Pikmin ran to the gas and seemed to feed off of it, the intense smell attracted the Purple closer. When it ran back to Olimar, it ran as fast as a White Pikmin. As though the massive bulk of it's body was a feather.

"The Purple Pikmin...feed on the gasses." Prof. Miramontes said, obviously intruiged.

"So it seems. It looks like this is an all Purple investigation." Olimar announced. Taking fifty Purples and putting the other three Pikmin back into their respective onions, they set off into the rest of the Awakening Wood, or as Olimar will now call it, Deceiving Forest. Venturing forward, Pikmin and Hocotainian moved into a small area that had a collection of spoke marks. Some disgusting fluids freely flowed in random places and there were signs of some sort of struggle in the area.

Several plants were bent and torn apart, large imprints lay close on the ground, and most perculliar of all, flower petals and small, Pikmin-like footprints were scattered in some places and dissapeared.

"Olimar, isn't this the place where the Bulborb and those two other munchkins were sleeping?" Louie asked, holding a Purple Pikmin close to him.

"Yes, but what happened to the Bulborbs." Usually, this area held a fine collection of Bulborbs of all kinds, but now, nothing was there. Professor Nye shreiked and as every one whiped their heads around (including the Pikmin) they saw the unpredictable.

A Pink Onion had landed right on top of him, and it's pink light emitted right on him.

"Olimar." he whispered frantically, "what do I do?"

"Just look up and say the letter of how many Pikmin you want to take out." Olimar said.

In a random choice, he picked the letter "D" and four Pikmin zoomed out from the onion. Prof. Nye looked in complete horror. They weren't scary, or anything, just the beading eyes followed his every move.

"A Pink Pikmin colony." Olimar said. Louie had been right about the Green and the Pink Pikmin. "Louie, what others did you say there were?"

"Orange, Light Blue, and Shadow."

"Just as I thought. The Pikmin are making a comeback, it seems that evolution is taking a dramatic course as soon as I set foot on this planet." Olimar said.

"What do you mean?" President asked.

"Louie, you, and I have altered the natural order, and now, we're seeing the effects."

"What's so horrible about it?"

"I fear that as the bottom of the food chain, hence, the Pikmin are rising, the members on the top of the food chain are becoming more large, and, maybe, powerful. The struggle here was obviously a result of a large animal attacking the world above it's habitat. We're soon going to be observed as small game."

"The Pink Pikmin seem docile, though. They don't look like they've suffered a large fight in years." said Prof. Nye, looking up at the onion. "It said it had ZFD, which is 39."

"Yes, we don't know their powers yet, because evolution has probably just created most of the new species." A loud roar filled the skies as birds flew in fear. "No..." Olimar didn't get enough energy afterward to finish his sentence. The Pink Pikmin ran back into their onion. The ground shifted and churned like a depressed mass. The Purple Pikmin all kneeled down, ready to fight to the death.

The ground opened and all sorts of critters ran out of the small hole, seemingly to escape the gasses. Mitites and Honeywisps ran or flew frantically and the nearly fearless Dwarf Bulbears also ran for their lives. Bursting from the hole as it expanded were the Emperor Bulbaxes and Bulborbs, they all avoided the Pikmin and Hocotanians as they tried to follow the other animals.

Olimar looked to his feet and saw the ground cracking. He opened his eyes fully, exposing his pupils as he shouted at his team, "RUN!" As they moved, the ground that was behind them was chucked out of it's usual space and flew into the sky.

They ran faster and faster, until they reached the ships. One gigantic boulder fired itself out of the massive gaping hole and a creature composed of ectoplasm jumped out and roared. It was a Titan Waterwraith. It met it's new challengers with a roar. Olimar crouched down like the Pikmin, also ready to fight.

(A/N: Suspensful, eh?)