A/N: This chapter is told by Olimar, not the white pikmin, in case anyone get's confused.
Chapter 6: Return
Day 43 – I was awakened by the sound of Louie's snores. That idiot! It's a wonder I can get any sleep at all…oh well…since I'm up, I might as well set the coordinates for tomorrows mission. I had originally planned to go to the Awakening Wood for a change of scenery, but something told me I should stay at the Perplexing Pond one more day. I shut my eyes and let my fingers do the typing. When I opened my eyes, the words "Course set for the Perplexing Pond" were flashing on the screen. I grinned. Maybe my instinct was right. Maybe there's more treasure there.
Daybreak – A loud bang indicated that we were landing. Decrepit old ship! Nothing at all like my good ol' S.S. Dolphin, which the President just had to sell. It pains me to think about how much work I put into re-building that ship just to have it taken away from me…sniff…
The ship landed with a thud as the engines turned off. Louie sat bolt upright. Still half asleep, he picked up the lamp next to his bed and began to swing it like a baseball bat, screaming "C'mon! You want a piece of me, punk? Huh! Huh!"
Shaking my head in disgust, I said sarcastically, "We've landed, dumbass. Put the lamp down and get suited up."
"…I knew that. I was just testing you."
I rolled my eyes and sighed in disarray. I climbed into my cockpit and Louie, finally into his spacesuit, climbed into his. We were both immediately ejected. Tumbling to the ground, I stood up and brushed myself off. Louie, on the hand, had fallen flat on his face with a thud. Getting up, he looked around and asked, "Hey! Weren't we here just yesterday?"
"Yep. I have a feeling we're going to find something important here today."
The onions were in their usual spots in front of the ship. I walked under the blue onion and ordered one hundred of my pikmin out with a few beeps of my whistle. The first one came out of the side of the onion with a small pop and looked at me. Giving a small peep of assurance, it's flower almost spinning in excitement to see me, it slid down a leg of the onion, and ran over to my side. Ninety-eight more pops followed as ninety-eight more pikmin came to join me. Wait…I thought I called one hundred? Pikmin will not travel to the surface in groups of more than 100, so there must be one missing.
Checking my radar, I noticed a small white dot floating in water not far from where I was. (My radar is able to track locations of pikmin as well as give me a layout of the terrain) Something's wrong…white pikmin can't swim…
Calling Louie over, I rushed to its location. Water splashed at my sides as I waded into the middle of the pond. I was surprised to see no monsters around. When I got a few feet from it, I gasped and sped to its side.
It was a very sad sight. A half dead, white pikmin was floating there. There was an enormous gash down its shoulder, and its legs were sticking out at odd angles. It was sickening. I was utterly shocked to see it breathing. Gently picking it up, I rushed back to the shore, past a puzzled Louie. It opened its ruby red eyes just a slit, and waved its leaf at me, which looked as if it was half eaten; a sure sign that a pikmin was weak.
Returning to the ship, I instructed Pod, the A.I. in our ship, to tend to it. Reluctant at first, Pod finally agreed and sent me off.