Chapter 3: Bulbmin

20:00 – "Are you okay?"

Well…that was certainly unexpected. I've got a monster staring me down, with no escape and no hope, and its first words are "are you okay?"! Insanity!

At first glance, this creature looked like just an extremely small version of a bulborb, even smaller than a "dwarf" bulborb, but after closer inspection, I saw that it had a leaf over it's head, just like I had. Well…since it spoke our language, it mustn't be too bad…

"What are you?" I asked.

"Do you really need to ask? I'm a pikmin, just like you!"

Huh? Now I'm not one to judge, but this guy couldn't be one of us. From its eyestalks to its spotted back, it resembled a bulborb more. Even it's voice was strange, it sounded very high pitched and kazoo-like. The only thing similar was the small leaf above its head.

"C'mon" it said, "Climb onto my back. It's not safe out here."

"Ya think? I nearly got my arm torn off!"

Crawling painfully onto it, I simply allowed myself to dangle sideways off of it, because I was too exhausted to sit up. "By the way" I inquired, "I still don't know what you are."

"Heh…your leader, Olimar, calls me and my kind 'Bulbmin'" the small creature replied.

"Bulbmin huh…wait! You know Olimar?"

"Yep. I first met him in a small cave lined with tile that he named the "Shower Room""

I recalled the name. I remember hearing something about that place from other pikmin who had returned. That was one of the few missions that I wasn't taken along with…drat!

We started away from the lake. If it hadn't been for the bumpy ride, I would have passed out from exhaustion. On and on we rode. Sometimes, we had to go around a place or take shortcuts, or longcuts because the path we were headed down was filled with monsters.

I was still questioning on whether or not to trust "bulbmin" or not. It didn't appear that I had a choice, and what did I have to lose? Still…

After what seemed like hours, we finally reached the shore of another small lake. Looking around for a second, and then looking at me, Bulbmin took a step in the water.

I almost screamed. Instead, I released a small squealing noise like a muffled scream. Bulbmin turned its eyestalks around to look at me. "What's wrong?"

"I can't swim!"

In fact, almost no pikmin I knew could swim. Most couldn't even stand water. The only ones who could truly swim were blue pikmin, because they had gills on their cheeks for breathing. This also made their voices sound really bubbly; like they were underwater.

Bulbmin didn't look surprised, nor worried. "Just stay on my back and hang on. The water doesn't look too deep, so you'll stay above water."

"…Okay…"

The pain in my arm had somewhat subsided, so I tried to sit up. Hanging on with my good arm, we waded into the pond.