Everything felt surreal and hazy. I was dimly aware of a faint light, but couldn't actually perceive anything with it. It was simply… there. I could also hear an indecipherable murmuring, and as time floated by, it slowly became more clear. Muffled sounds became words, and words became sentences. Soon, I realized that a conversation was taking place.

"What do we do now? We got them to safety, but they aren't even-"

"They'll wake up. And then they'll know what to do. Just wait."

"But what if they don't?"

"They will! They have to! I can still feel their… Huh?"

At that moment, my eyes squinted open. The first thing I saw was a dark haze, and it promptly exclaimed, "Pink! You're awake!"

My eyelids shot apart, and the haze rapidly solidified into a black pikmin. "Egh… What's happening?" I asked the bright black. "How did I get here-"

I sat straight up as memory hit me like a boulder. The bomb-creature. The explosion. The darkness. All these images raced through my head as the harlemin flocked towards me. "You're okay!" "I thought you wouldn't wake up!" "I told you he'd make it!" "It's good to have you back, Pink!"

They were ecstatic over my survival, but their cheers quickly became background noise. All I could think about were the last moments before I lost consciousness. The explosion hurling me through the air. My body hitting the ground hard. Me laying alone until those figures—the harlemin—came to get me. Except I hadn't been alone. There had also been-

"White!" I exclaimed. "Where's the white?!"

The harlemin all pointed with their stems. I turned and saw her laying nearby, her eyes shut and her body still. Mortified, I ran up to her, dropped to my knees, and pressed my hands to her chest. There was a soft but steady pulse, and her torso rose and fell beneath my touch. Sighing, I lifted my head and looked back at the harlemin.

"Will she be okay?" asked the bright black.

"Yeah, she'll be fine," I replied. "I don't know how long she'll be out, though."

"I'm sure she'll be back soon," said another black. "You were only gone for a short while, so…"

I got to my feet and turned around. "What're you all doing out here, anyway? You were supposed to go back to your Onion."

The bright black frowned and looked away. "We were going to, but…" She hesitated before steeling her nerves. "We couldn't bear to leave you behind, especially after hearing all those explosions. So we came back and found you two laying unconscious."

"What about the other three?"

"They were being chased by that flying thing. We wanted to think of a plan to help them, but then we sensed that giant spot-creature approaching. Without any time to think, we had no choice but to carry you off to safety."

My face softened. I wasn't thrilled that they had endangered themselves by returning, but if they hadn't done so, the white and I would've either been blown up or eaten. We were lucky to be alive, but there was no time to feel good about it. "I have to go help the others," I said. "But first, I need to get the white out of here as quickly as possible."

"There's no need for that," said the bright black. "We can leave her here and have a black pikmin watch over her. It'll know if an enemy is approaching, so she'll be perfectly safe."

"That's... actually not a bad idea, though I'd feel better if a black took her back to the Onion instead."

"I don't like the sound of that," she said with a surprising firmness. "Remember, we can't sense a creature if it's hiding underground. What if said black pikmin were to walk into a trap? It would be defenseless, and so would the white for that matter."

My stem rose slightly. I was impressed by how much foresight she had developed in such a short period of time. "Alright, I'll go with your idea. But if only one black is going to watch her, then what are the rest of you going to do?"

"We're going to join the hunt!" they said in unison.

I narrowed my eyes. "I don't like the sound of that."

"We didn't think you would," said the bright black. "But you need us."

"No, I don't! We've handled tons of dangerous beasts before! We can handle this one too!"

"How can you say that?!" an orange exclaimed. It wasn't just any orange—it was the very first one. "The yellows and the red are on the run, and if we hadn't shown up when we did, you wouldn't even be here! You call that handling it?!"

My brows tensed, but before I could respond, she kept going. "I know our lives matter to you, but your lives matter to us, too! You can't do this on your own, so let us help you the way you helped us! Don't we deserve that much? Don't you deserve that much?"

Everyone stared at her as though she had spat in a Demon's face. After a heated silence, I lowered my stem and said, "Alright. You can help me."

"Really?!" they all said incredulously.

"Yes. But you have to do everything I say. Got it?"

"Got it!" they replied.

"So what's the plan?" asked the bright black.

I crossed my arms and thought to myself. Throwing pikmin was no good since the creature had already grown wise to that. And if it was anticipating pikmin getting thrown, it was likely anticipating pikmin getting dropped, too. I couldn't reuse any previous tactics. It had to be something new. But what?

The creature knew that I was capable of lifting pikmin, but what if they could gain height through some other means? Then we could employ the dropping strategy, but in a way that the creature wouldn't see coming.

I glanced upwards. Then, in a flash, it came to me. "Aha! That's it!"

"What's it?" asked the bright black.

"I have a plan," I said. "We're only gonna get one shot at this though, so listen closely..."


I flew through the woods looking for the bomb-creature. There were no harlemin present, and before I had separated from them, they had confirmed that the Demon was no longer present. Good. Now I could focus on the bigger threat.

So far, I had not heard a single explosion. I supposed that was good news since the blasts attracted unwanted attention, but it was also suspenseful. Had the creature stopped throwing bombs because my friends had escaped? Or had it stopped because my friends were…?

I shoved the thought aside. The status of my friends didn't matter right now. All that mattered wasthat this creature was highly dangerous and needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. Not only did it wield the power of explosions—the most destructive force known to pikmin—it also had the ability to fly without the need for wings, granting it both mobility and stealth. As long as it was alive, no spot in the forest would be safe.

The bomb-creature needed to die. Today.

After awhile of searching, a surge of colors caught my eye. It was the creature. It wasn't holding a bomb-rock, nor was it pursuing anyone. Unfortunately, this told me nothing about my friends' fate, but that was something I'd have to investigate later. With a deep breath, I flew into view and alighted upon the ground.

Predictably, the creature immediately drew a bomb-rock. However, it did not throw it, even as I stood out in the open. It was probably expecting me to fly, but I had something else in mind. Instead of flapping my wings, I pumped my legs and ran off, hoping to make myself more enticing. As I scurried over the dirt, I stole a glance over my shoulder and saw the creature in hot pursuit. Perfect.

I sprinted in straight lines between the trees, and the creature stayed right on my a beast without any wings to propel itself, it was surprisingly mobile, and it wasn't long before I heard a crack followed by the deadly hiss. Straining myself, I managed to get out of range just as the bomb went off, a gust of wind and specks of dirt hitting my back. My wings twitched anxiously, but I had to defy them. I could not risk spoiling the chase.

I arrived at my destination just as the creature re-armed itself. Trembling, I anchored my tired feet and waited. The beast floated overhead, but right before throwing the bomb, it hesitated. Its body went rigid and its antennae quivered madly, as though it suspected something.

The suspicion didn't last. With a swing of its limbs, it tossed the bomb-rock through the air, and the second it hit the ground, I took flight and yelled, "NOW!"

First came the explosion, and then came the battle cries. The creature shrieked in alarm as harlemin rained from the branches above, popping every one of its sacs and sending it to the ground. The pikmin that had landed on its body had already started attacking, while those that had missed were quick to join in. The hunter-turned-hunted thrashed and screamed as it desperately tried to ward them off, but for every pikmin it shook away, another one reattached. The cries grew fainter, the convulsions grew weaker, and then, all was still.

The creature was dead.

"Victory!" the harlemin cheered, slapping their hands together triumphantly.

"Pink! Did you see that?" asked the first orange. "We did it! We beat the beast!"

"You did. You really did."

That was what I wanted to say, but the words didn't come out. As I watched the harlemin dance around the corpse, I wondered what I would've done without them. Thinking back, I realized that my underestimation of the creature had hardly mattered, because it probably would've relocated us either way. A beast of this nature could not be avoided forever, and so the only solution was to kill it. But there were merely six of us, and even then, two of us were weak. How in the Piku-Lord's name would we have won that fight? The best outcome I could imagine was using its bomb-rocks against it, but that would've been extremely dangerous, and it likely wouldn't have fallen for its own trick anyway.

Creativity could go a long way, but no matter how smart we were, there were some obstacles that we could simply not overcome in small numbers. Pikmin could only be at their best in large numbers, and this proved it.

"Pink?" asked the bright black, suddenly below me. "What should we do now?"

I lowered myself and said, "Take the other blacks and scout out for the missing 'min. When you find them, meet us back at this spot."

"What about the oranges?"

"They're coming with me."


With my entourage of oranges, I returned to where I had left the white. To my relief, both she and her guardian black were still there. "Was there any trouble while I was gone?" I asked.

"No trouble," he replied. "Where are the other blacks? Were they…?"

"They're looking for the yellows and the red. We defeated the creature. Not one pikmin was lost."

"Well done, Pink."

It was not the black who had said this. I turned and saw the white looking at me through one open eye. "I don't know how you keep pulling this stuff off, but you're quite a whiz at it."

"I had a little help," I said, forcing a weak smile. "Please tell me you didn't break anything."

"No, nothing's broken. My body's awfully sore, though." She sat up. "How'd you recover so fast? Weren't you hit by the explosion too?"

"I was. But I'm also not the one who was hit by the bomb-rock itself."

"Ah, right. For a second, I thought I had just gotten weaker," she said. "Where are the others?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen them since we were knocked out," I said. "The blacks are searching for them right now. With any luck, they might already be at the rendezvous point."

"Alright then. Let's get moving."

She tried to stand up, but I raised my hand to stop her. "Please don't jinx it. It's best if you stay off your feet for a little while."

The white closed her eyes and shook her head. "Fine. Someone carry me then."

"I'll do it," said an orange. Once she retrieved the white, we went back to the bomb-creature's corpse. However, there was not a single pikmin waiting for us there. "That's not a good sign," I muttered.

"Do you think they're still looking? Or did something happen?" asked an orange.

"I don't know. I imagine the others wouldn't have gone too far, but…" I trailed off. "You all stay here in case they come back. I'm gonna go have a look arou-"

"Pink!" the white exclaimed. "They're coming! I can see them!"

I stared into the distance, and a mass of silhouettes began to appear. Soon they transitioned into a crowd of blacks, and among them were a red and two yellows.


My friends and I stood by as the harlemin carried their prize to the Onion. The once formidable beast was promptly absorbed, and in exchange, new harlemin were brought into the world. As the seeds drifted to the ground, one of the oranges noticed something. "Hey! The old sprouts have flowers!"

Indeed, the unplucked harlemin were in full bloom, their periwinkle flowers glinting in the afternoon sun. "That's why I told you not to pluck them," said the male yellow. "If you leave a sprout in the ground, it'll eventually grow a bud and then a flower."

"Can we pluck them now?" asked a black.

"Go right ahead. Just don't touch the new sprouts. They should be ready by tomorrow morning."

As the harlemin uprooted their new allies, the male yellow turned to me and said, "I gotta say, Pink, I'm quite impressed. I can't believe they pulled off a maneuver like that."

"I can't believe it either," said the female yellow. "And with no casualties at that."

"Yeah. No casualties," I muttered with relief. I was no stranger to pikmin death—I had seen plenty of reds die, after all—but something about the harlemin seemed so… innocent. Was it because they were the first of a new generation? Or was it because they relied on us?

Regardless, fatalities were bound to happen sooner or later—probably sooner. It was a bitter thought, but at the very least, I was glad it didn't happen today.

Although the harlemin never got to fight a Demon, their performance against the bomb-creature was enough to convince the male yellow of their prowess. As a result, he decided that they could be left to their own devices. I was somewhat hesitant to agree since their victory had happened under my instruction, but then again, I had also instructed them to not get involved. Perhaps they were wiser than I gave them credit for.

Before we left, the male yellow had one last thing to say to them. "The time has come for us to depart. We shall meet again someday, but until then, I have some advice for the oranges. As you explore your territory, keep an eye out for underground passages. I suspect that there might be several around here, but if there aren't, then you should consider digging some. They're very useful for ambushes, or for escapes."

"Thank you so much," said the bright black. "We'll put the skills you've taught us to good use."

"I have no doubts," said the male yellow.

After we said our goodbyes, we met up with the blue and told him what had happened. According to him, the floating creature was called a Bomb Fairy. They were rare, hostile beings that—oddly enough—were not known to be predatory. While most creatures that killed us did so to satisfy their hunger, or to avoid becoming prey themselves, the Bomb Fairy killed for no apparent reason other than raw malice. After hearing this, I couldn't have been happier that it was dead and hoped I would never encounter one again.

"This has been a remarkably productive day," the male yellow said to the blue. "I'm quite pleased to have instilled them with a sense of creativity."

"That's terrific, Yellow. Anyway, there's just enough daylight left to get back home. Shall we get going?"

The yellow narrowed his eyes, obviously annoyed by the blue's lack of enthusiasm. "Sure. Whatever."

"Hold on a sec," said the female yellow. "White? Do you plan on walking?"

"I do, actually," said the white.

"Seriously? After what happened earlier?"

"I feel fine now! Especially after drinking that nectar!"

"Even so, you shouldn't push yourself. It's better safe than sorry."

The white raised her brow. "Do you really want to have to carry me all the way back?"

"I'd rather have that than you collapsing halfway there," the female yellow scowled.

While they bickered back and forth, the red took my hand and pulled me aside. "Hey, Pink. I've been thinking about the Onion, and I've got a great idea!"

"Let me guess: You're going to say we should become harlemin and join the colony?"

He blinked. "Oh. So you've thought of it already."

"It was actually the blue who thought of it."

The red stared at me with half-squinted eyes and a crooked stem.

"Yeah, that was my reaction too," I chuckled.

"Sooooo are you interested, or…?"

"I am interested. It's just…" I crossed my arms and glanced at the others. "There's a few things I want to settle first."

The red smiled. "Got some unfinished business, huh? I'm guessing it's with the blue?"

"It's with everyone. Well, the blue most of all, but still everyone." I put my hand on his shoulder. "You can join the Onion right now if you want. I won't be offended."

The red went silent for a moment before playfully punching my arm. "You can't get rid of me that easily, Pink. I ain't doing this without you."

"I didn't think you would," I said with a grin.

"I'll keep this to myself until you wrap things up. Just don't take too long, okay?"

"I won't."