As noon hung over the Valley of Repose, our squad of seventy or so Pikmin were happily following along as Gin and I made our way over to the final blocked off area. Well, it wasn't blocked off by a paper bag, but rather a rootlike formation made into a wall. Huh.
Watching Gin direct our entire group at it, I was soon witnessing the slow destruction of the rootlike wall. "Wow... These little guys are like tiny alien Spartans," I commented, transfixed on the army now demolishing the wall. Hey, it was the first thing that came to mind, cut me some slack.
But I had to admit, watching the Pikmin work their strength on the wall was pretty mesmerizing. Even Gin was pretty transfixed on it.
"So, Gin," I began thoughtfully, snapping her out of her own trance, "How long do these usually take to take down?"
"Um... It depends. I think this one takes a few in-game hours to finish, but that's if you only have about twenty working on it," she replied. After processing this, I just plopped to the ground. "Well, time to play the waiting game. Shit."
My blunt swear in response to Gin's answer was enough to get her smiling. Seems like she couldn't have said it better herself.
Eventually, the two of us started to play a few games to ease the boredom, such as 'Never Have I Ever' and the like. In other words, we retreated to playing little girls' sleepover games to pass the time. Yeah.
After what felt like an eternity, but was probably about an hour and a half, the wall had finally been brought down thanks to our Pikmin troopers. Gin was about to whistle the Pikmin over from the now-destroyed wall when she was interrupted by the ship.
"How could Pikmin destroy such a massive wall? When massed, their might is ferocious!"
I had to agree with the ship on that one. The wall was pretty big compared to us. Plus, they kept at it without a break. That takes endurance. I was snapped out of my thoughts by the ship addressing 'me', "Louie! Did Olimar instruct you on proper Pikmin-commanding protocol?"
"Uh... I've just been told to watch," I replied to the ship's question. I didn't really have any other response aside from that. After all, it was technically the truth. At my answer, the ship seemed to buzz in a more scolding tone, "Apparently not! Olimar! You are failing in your duty as a superior!"
At this, Gin's face instantly flushed red with embarrassment. I had to admit, I felt pretty bad for throwing her under the bus... But hey. I was getting antsy and being told that I had to just watch as someone else did everything was getting to me.
That's when the ship began to instruct more redundancy to us. "Allow me to explain! Grab them firmly by the stem and throw them however hard as you need to and call them back with the whistle on your helmet! Disband them with a short sound of your whistle and issue orders and objectives by pointing and whistling! It is useful for swarming Pikmin around treasure and enemies, or making them march in a straight line!"
Gin and I just looked at each other, each of us wondering just how stupid the ship thinks we are... Or I was. Well, whatever. Time to see what lies ahead.
The first thing that caught my eye was the big lump of dirt ahead of us. As soon as Gin and I approached it, it was clear that it... Was a pretty deep hole. Wow.
"Interesting... Warm air is welling up from the hole in the ground before you. What could lie underground?"
... Wait, was the ship hinting at us to jump in the hole? Glancing over at Gin, she definitely wasn't up for it either.
"... What is wrong? You both show expressions of unease," the ship asked, which caused me to stammer, "Of-of course we're uneasy! We don't know how d-deep this thing is! Jumping down there could get us eaten by weird animals if we survive the fall!"
"Do not fear! The leader's group of Pikmin will join you. I will dispatch my research pod, too. Approach the hole and jump in!"
If I die, it's the ship's fault.
— —
This part wasn't exactly what I was looking forward to. Not by a long shot. But, if we really wanted out of here, then we would have to deal. After making sure all of the Pikmin were accounted for, I took a deep breath, approached the hole...
And stopped myself before I could jump in. Nope, I couldn't do this. With a sheepish look to Tori, I gave her the best smile I could in this situation. "Um... You can go first?" I asked, which caused her to give me a cold stare.
"You need a little help? Because I don't want to deal with this."
"What?"
"You'll thank me later."
Without warning, Tori pushed me into the hole. As I began to scream bloody murder while seeing the light of the outside world slowly get smaller, I could make out Tori jumping after me, followed by our Pikmin. I would have been impressed by her bravery if I weren't showing off what little I had.
Soon, I felt my back collide with the ground rather painfully, followed by Tori, the Pikmin, and the ship's research pod. Once we recovered (and accepting that I will definitely be feeling that later), the ship spoke to each of us, "Intriguing... My heat sensors indicate that this hole's interior is warmer than on the planet's surface."
Now that it mentioned it, I didn't feel chilly at all. I knew that the suits that Olimar and Louie had weren't exactly... Quality, so being in the Valley of Repose wasn't really fun temperature wise. I'd be fine with sticking around in the cave for an extended amount of time.
"Analysis suggests that subterranean areas may support different life-forms than the surface. If you wish to check underground terrain, please press and hold your communicators. I am not just a ship... I am an all-purpose support pod!"
"That actually sounds pretty cool when it's put like that," Tori commented as she took the first few steps into the Emergence Cave. Although there weren't going to be many threats at all, I whistled the Pikmin together and followed her into the next room. What happened next is definitely something I won't ever forget.
"HOLY FUCK, THAT IS A HUGE TANGERINE!" Tori exclaimed as the large fruit came into view. It... Definitely was bigger than I had imagined. Yet, this exclamation caught the attention of a few snow bulborbs, who gave a 'yip' at the sight of us as they approached.
"Okay, you think you can take on one of them?" I asked Tori, who just gave me a sly grin as she began to chuck Pikmin at the bulborbs. As the Pikmin attacked, the white-colored monsters mercilessly chomped at a few until...
The squeak had sounded. The squeak of a Pikmin being devoured.
Tori's entire demeanor changed as soon as she saw that, going from confident to horrified. "Th-that wasn't supposed to—,"
She was interrupted as the very bulborb that had eaten the Pikmin was pummeled by the rest of the red warriors. Tori then saw firsthand what happens when you kill an enemy before it completely ate a Pikmin.
Out from the snow bulborb's mouth, the Pikmin wiggled itself free with a relieved noise, then went to help finish off the last bulborb, leaving Tori completely stunned.
Slowly looking to me, she just gave a point over at the corpse, totally at a loss for words. I guess it was time for me to own up to being a 'superior'.
"There's a window where you can save a Pikmin while something is eating them. You just have to kill the thing before the Pikmin gets eaten. Some are slower than others and some don't eat Pikmin to kill them," I explained as Tori listened intently. With a nod, she looked back at the Pikmin. "Alright, I got it. Thanks for telling me," she replied with a grin.
And so, with the combined efforts of our Pikmin, we had managed to bring back both the Citrus Lump (worth 180) and the Quenching Emblem that totally wasn't a 7Up bottle cap (worth 100). With no other treasure in sight, our team continued on to the hole ahead of us. When we had approached it, the ship contacted us once more, "This hole appears to be quite deep. My sensors indicate more treacherous terrain ahead."
At this, I could see Tori getting a bit uncomfortable.
"Louie, do you recall when you spotted us from your crash site? Be sure to do the same thing and look before rushing in, understood?"
Well, she wasn't up for responding.
"... Your expression tells me you do. Excellent! Then, jump further down into the cave!" the ship urged. Okay, now was the time for me to jump instead of being forced (because that wasn't what I would call a pleasant experience). Taking a few steps back, I cleared my head.
I had survived the first jump... The second one won't be too bad! Yeah!
With a running start, I could feel my legs want to lock up once again. No, not this time! Instead of succumbing to the instinct to stop myself, I took the leap of faith before it could happen.
... Nevertheless, I screamed once more.
Which, honestly, wasn't doing much to help with assuring Tori that we'd be fine.
— —
... Gin really wasn't having a fun time, it seemed.
I could tell that she wanted to act as the superior the ship was goading at her to be. In a way, she already was. I knew fuck all about Pikmin while she was a textbook. To be honest, I was proud that she worked up the courage to jump down further. Now I had to follow with the Pikmin.
Closing my eyes, I jumped after Gin, hearing the Pikmin's squeaks behind me. As I descended, I braced myself for the inevitable pain that would follow.
BAM!
A graceless landing on my part, followed by the Pikmin.
After recovering, I took a look around where we ended up. This place... Apparently was bigger? And warmer, which was a big plus. Seeing that Gin was already up and around, I got up as well. The first thing that caught my eye were more of those white bulb-things. They still were freaks of nature in my eyes.
This time, Gin took a glance at me, then cleared her throat, "Okay... It'll be a little harder to pinpoint it, but there's a spot on top of the bulborbs that kills them instantly if you throw Pikmin on top of it," she explained as she grabbed one of our red troopers, "I'll try to hit it so you can see what I'm talking about, okay?"
So they can seriously be killed instantly? You learn something every day... Like how painful it is to fall on your ass after taking a leap of faith. Ow.
In seconds, Gin began chucking the Pikmin right at a group of the bulburbs. The yips from the freaks echoed all throughout the cave as the small Spartans attacked.
Right when I had begun to think that Gin's 'demonstration' would be a bust, the next Pikmin that was thrown landed right on top of one of the white bulburbs. What happened afterwards was a screech from the thing as the force from the impact completely flattened it for a second. Afterwards, it fell to the ground, dead as my biology professor's enthusiasm for teaching... That was flat out gruesome.
Once the remaining Pikmin finished off the group of bulburbs, They returned, proud of their accomplishment. "Alright, you know what to do?" Gin asked, which I responded with a thumbs up. Seems easy enough. Just gotta land the Pikmin right on top of them.
"Okay. I'm gonna let you take the lead."
With that, Gin backed away, motioning towards the rest of the cave. I was honestly excited. She really trusted me enough to let me fight things technically on my own? Well, knowing her, she was going to make sure nothing bad happens to me while I led the way.
Walking down the path, which had turned to dirt underneath us, we had come across... A huge globe. Upon getting closer, the ship buzzed into my helmet.
"It's inconceivable that such an immense object has been buried here for so long. The design on the outer shell resembles the surface of the planet as seen from space!" it remarked... Which really made me wonder if it had seen a globe before. I was actually about to ask before being interrupted by the hunk of metal, "Perhaps it can be used as something other than salvage... But how will we ever lift it? I fear that even one hundred red Pikmin would be unable to lift it!"
Wait, what?
"Wait, what?"
The only response I got was a little tug on my arm from Gin. "Don't worry. Keep on going. We'll be able to get it out," she assured. Okay, now I was curious. Following her instructions, I trudged on with my group following close behind. We soon came across another white bulburb... But fortunately, I had a better aim than Gin. Remembering where it was that I needed to throw, I gripped ahold of a Pikmin tightly and... Well, it wasn't like I would land it the first time.
A few more throws later and one Pikmin made their impact on top of the bulburb. Not bad! Maybe I'll get better at this.
The closer we hiked down farther, the more vegetation was appearing. It was nice to see some prettier plants for once, really. The dreary coldness of the surface was really drab, but down in the cave was much more comfortable. Eventually, we all had come across a large group of the freaks of nature.
"I forgot how many there are," I heard Gin mumble, then turn towards me, "Let's team up against these things!"
"Sure!"
And so, red rain fell upon the group, managing to one-shot one of them. As quickly as it began, it ended... But our artillery returned one Pikmin short.
So, this is how easy it could be to lose Pikmin? If that's the case, then we're gonna need to up our game. Fortunately, it wasn't Chili, who has been right next to me the whole time. The little guy was too precious to risk losing.
Entering the next room that had been guarded by the bulburbs, Gin and I were met with an extremely beautiful sight.
Right at the bottom of the cave, a lush area filled with greenery. And in the center basking in the light from above? Giant purple flowers.
Yeah, I could definitely take a nap here.
"Astounding! A flower blooms in a cave deep beneath the snowy landscape. Clearly it is warmer down here than above. Look. The Pikmin are restless..."
With the ship's observation, the red Pikmin were indeed a bit antsy. They were looking intently at Gin and I, seemingly eager for something...
"They look as if they yearn to be tossed in the flower..."
After the ship noted that, I turned to Gin, a very perplexed look probably on my face. My expression was enough to make her laugh as she began to toss a few Pikmin in. The resulting squeaks that followed were pretty unnerving, but as soon as a couple were thrown in, the flower snapped shut, spat out some seeds, then withered away. What remained were five new Pikmin sprouts, waiting to be plucked.
"I'll let you pull out the first one," was all that Gin said.
Nervously, I approached one of the sprouts and grabbed hold of the stalk.
What was going to happen? Only one way to find out.
It took a bit more effort than the other Pikmin sprouts, but I eventually pulled it from the ground. Looking behind me, a... Purple colored Pikmin was present instead of a red one. The ship's enthusiasm sounded as the Pikmin took in its surroundings once more. "Amazing! A purple Pikmin! It has hair... And is quite stocky. It seems very heavy and very strong."
Yeah, I had gathered the 'heavy' part after pulling it out. But what did it mean by 'very strong'? The ship kept on, "This kind of Pikmin was not mentioned in your report, Olimar. It must be an entirely new type! Transforming Pikmin by tossing them into flowers? Intriguing... Perhaps there are others..?"
Huh. That's a thought. Looking at Gin, she was finishing with pulling up the last of the purple Pikmin.
So, we had ten purple Pikmin and I think fifty nine red ones... Would it really be enough for carrying the huge globe? Gin was already on her way to it by the time I had finished that thought. Once I had caught up to her, she was already directing the Pikmin onto the large globe. The ship had said that it was impossible for even one hundred red Pikmin, so... Maybe this is where the 'stronger' part comes in.
After a bit of struggle, the Pikmin lifted it off the ground and began to march on to the ship's research pod.
"So... This is what it meant by stronger?" I asked Gin, who nodded before replying, "Yeah. They have the strength of ten Pikmin. But they're really slow and heavy as the downside."
At the mention of 'strength of ten Pikmin', a smug grin spread across my face. "In other words... They have the strength of ten men?"
As soon as she knew where I was headed with this, Gin groaned.
"Tori, please no."
"He asked for me to give him the strength of ten men..."
"Tori—,"
"Did he get what he wanted? Of course! He made off with a lovely mahogany cheese board."
As I quoted the scene some more at Gin's expense (I hadn't seen the movie in a while, so I might have gotten a few words wrong), the Pikmin eventually reached the pod and the globe was retrieved.
I knew that because as soon as it was sucked up, the ship began to announce the amount.
"This treasure is worth 200 Pokos! I shall call it... The Spherical Atlas!"
Oh. So it did have a vague idea of what a globe was. Kind of.
"There is a device resembling a microchip embedded inside this sphere. Retrieving data..."
There was a silence afterwards, seemingly because of the data being deciphered. After a few more seconds, the ship spoke once again, "Error. I could only decode a portion of the data, but I did retrieve new geographical charts. I shall input this data into my planetary database and name it the Sphere Chart. Now that we have this new data, you should be able to explore the decoded territory tomorrow."
So, we had a new area to add to our places to look for 'treasure' to get out of corporate shit. Huzzah. But I absolutely hated cold weather, so maybe this new place would be a little warmer. Heading over to the ship's pod, I whistled the Pikmin to me and returned to Gin.
"So... Where to now?" I asked, which resulted in Gin going back to the room where we had gotten the sumo Pikmin. Of course, I followed close behind her.
Walking towards the back of it, a distinct sound of what had to be a geyser was present. The ship pretty much said exactly what was on my mind.
"Astounding! Water is shooting out of this geyser with incredible force! Sensors indicate that it has enough power to launch you into the air! Approach it and give it a try!"
Oh, way ahead of you, my metal friend. This looks fun as HELL!
Before Gin could say anything about it, I jumped right on into the water, which blasted me right into the sky. I assumed that Gin had hesitated to join in, but after hearing the sounds of the Pikmin followed, she must have worked up the courage.
And I was glad for that. Because GOD DAMN, THIS WAS FUN!
— —
GOD DAMN, THIS WAS HORRIFYING!
As I felt myself shoot into the air with the army of Pikmin, Tori was laughing like crazy. WHY WAS SHE LAUGHING?! Soon, the warmth of the cave disappeared and the cold air of the Valley of Repose replaced it as we all shot through the sky. Finally, we all landed right at our base... And I once again felt the total pain that accompanied the impact onto the ground.
As Tori and I got up from the ground, we were notified that the ship wanted to speak with us. Again.
"You have successfully returned to the planet's surface! Excellent decision making, gentlemen!"
Being called a gentleman was definitely... New. It felt a little weird, actually.
"We must celebrate your first successful spelunking expedition! You've gathered a large amount of data that needs more in-depth analysis."
... Oh. Oh right. I'm the one that has to make journal entries. Fuck.
"I shall send a report to the President tonight detailing your progress. Olimar and Louie, yesterday I had told you that I would not be allowing another early day, but since you will explore a new area tomorrow, today's work is done!"
"But, shouldn't we be hurrying?" I heard Tori ask, to which the ship replied, "You may not realize it, but you are exhausted! You should take a much-needed rest, as you have all the time you need to collect treasure! Haste makes waste, so take it slow and steady."
Now that the ship mentioned it, I really did feel a bit exhausted... And sore from the falling. So, without another word, I whistled the Pikmin into their Onion—well, the purple ones were directed to the hull for their own Onion. This made Tori a bit confused until she saw that there weren't any purple Onions in sight. After an understanding "Oooh," from her, we made our way back onto the ship, a big day finally behind us.
—
Gin's Treasure Logs
Spherical Atlas:
In the first cave found, dubbed the Emergence Cave, our team came across this large map of the Pikmin planet. At first, the task of carrying it was next to impossible until discovering a very strong Pikmin: Purple Pikmin. With their help, we managed to carry this all the way back!
Citrus Lump:
I never thought that I would ever see a fruit this big in my entire life. Seriously, this is almost James and the Giant Peach kind of big. I doubt anyone will know what I'm talking about, but I'm still processing this...
Quenching Emblem:
As I write this while inspecting the design more carefully, I feel a sense of longing for a certain drink I haven't had in a long time... And I think of rabbits. Don't ask because I don't know why. I'm just going to leave this here and just get some juice or something.
Debt recovered: 930/10,000