My winter vacation was anything but a vacation. I had very little time to work on this story during it. What with family and homework, I was way too busy. This "day" is shorter than most and I apologize for it being so. You waited so long for its arrival. But, some days in Pikmin 2 are simply shorter than others. Ones where the white Pikmin ventures underground will naturally be lengthier. So, without further ado, I... oh, wait. There is further ado.

Okay, I should have said at the beginning of this story that there is going to a major spoiler in it. The big spoiler that you will read about is what happens when (in the game) you manage to collect ten thousand Pokos. This little white Pikmin did not come in at the start of the spacemen's adventure. After all, most of the game actually takes place after the debt is repaid...

Day 3

Morning arrives once more and the floating vessel begins to speak.

Pod: "I have an important update. After rigorous calculations, the likes of which you cannot even begin to comprehend, I have determined that we are only 165 Pokos short of the required ten thousand! Now, if you two stop slacking off and get to work, we may be able to collect enough treasure today to complete our mission!"

The walls of the storage vessel prevent me from hearing the Leaders' reply.

Pod: "Oh, yes you do! In fact, you are wasting time as we speak! Now, stop your blabbering and get to retrieving! We only have all day, you know."

After that, there is silence. I don't know if the Leaders respond, but the floating vessel doesn't speak again and neither Leader whistles in to call some of us out.

Are us whites not going to be needed today? I don't want to spend all day just sitting around! That would be so boring!

But, nothing happens. Not for quite a while.

In my boredom, I count all the Pikmin in the storage vessel. I have to explore every nook and cranny for them, as this place is full of junk and there are cracks to hide in between objects everywhere.

My final count is 83 whites and 49 purples. The search has taken a long time.

I sit back down in the mushroom I slept on last night and try to think of something to do next. However, only a short time passes before the Red Leader's whistle rings through the storage vessel. He is calling for... twenty purple Pikmin.

Darn! What about us whites!

"Am I going to be stuck in here all day?" I complain aloud.

"Shaddup!" I hear another Pikmin reply, but I don't see the speaker. No doubt it is lurking in a crevice between some objects.

A purple Pikmin walks over to me.

"White Pikmin aren't used every day," it says in a somewhat kind tone of voice. "You should get used to it."

"But, it's so boring in here! I want to get out and fight."

"Be careful what you wish for. Think about what you're saying for a moment. Do you know why there are fewer purples in here than whites? It should be obvious, but we tend not to survive as long as everyone else. We're always the first into battle, because we fight best out of all the colors. However, we are immune to none of the world's hazards; fire, water, electricity and poison are all lethal to purples. And on top of that, our bulk prevents us from running as fast as everyone else, meaning that we tend to fall behind while trying to retreat with the Leaders. I'd rather be a white, myself. You are rarely used, except in circumstances that can't possibly be harmful to your health. You mainly shut off poison-spouting pipes and dig up items, but us purples are only used to fight; and every fight involves some risk."

"Then I wish I was a purple! I don't care if my life expectancy is lower. I'd rather have a thrilling, interesting life than one where all I do is clear the area so that others can move on and fight!"

"Well, that's where you and I don't think alike. Yeah, life as a white is far easier... but... on the other hand... you are fed to enemies in extreme emergencies, so maybe I'd rather be a blue... or a yellow... Not a red becau-"

The floating vessel starts speaking again, so I shift my attention. The unhelpful purple Pikmin has lost my interest.

Pod: "Initiating valuation of recovered treasure. The artifact is worth... 80 Pokos. I hereby dub this object... the Aquatic Mine."

A large, round, yellow-and-orange object that has a spike on the yellow side plunges into the storage vessel.

Pod: "Acceptable work. Now, keep moving! You have 85 Pokos to go."

I put my head to the wall of the storage vessel to see if I can hear a reply, but no sound reaches me.

I turn around to wander over to the item that just fell into here. I get about halfway there before... I hear the Blue Leader's whistle! He's calling for twenty white Pikmin!!!

I rush to the exit nozzle and leap out into the... hot, muggy air.

This isn't the place where we were yesterday and not the place where we were the day before either.

I am standing on a large hill of sand with rock walls around three of its four sides. The air is unpleasantly warm and moist. Why, oh, why haven't we returned to the paradise of two days ago that I was only able to get a glimpse of?

The Red Leader is nowhere in sight. Instead, the Blue Leader walks us twenty whites down the side of the hill that isn't walled off. Then we turn right.

We are now headed for a large area that is clearly a recently drained lake. As we walk down the slope into the basin, the ground gets wetter and softer.

As we trudge over the mud, I spot the Red Leader with his army of twenty purples.

A mostly-yellow creature that is already covered with bruises and cuts (no doubt given to it by the purples) jumps into the air and attempts to squash the army by landing on it. The Red Leader, however, has already retreated too far away for it to "land" the attack.

The Red Leader grabs a purple Pikmin and whirls it above his head by its stem. Then, just as the creature comes down, he lobs the purple at it.

The purple Pikmin slams into the creature's face so hard that the creature is bowled over onto its back. It doesn't get up again.

The Red Leader whistles and the thrown Pikmin rejoins the group.

Olimar: -folds arms- "Well, that's that. The area is secured. No Yellow Wollywogs will disturb the white Pikmin as they dig up the treasure."

Louie: "We're actually going to complete our mission! This could be the last treasure!"

The Red Leader directs us (with a few beeps) over to an area of the basin.

My eyes spot something under the mud. All twenty of us dive at a single spot and dig with all our might.

In no time, we have unearthed a big, spiky, cone-shaped thing. We all grab on and carry it, with the help of some of the purples, back to the storage vessel.

The floating vessel lifts off of the storage vessel, sucks up our prize, and then settles back down.

Pod: "Initiating valuation of recovered treasure. The artifact is worth... 60 Pokos. I hereby dub this object... the Fortified Delicacy. You are still 25 Pokos short of completing our mission. Hurry up, why don't you?"

Louie: -head droops- "Aw... We were so close..."

Olimar: -pats Louie on the back- "And we still are. Come. I know where, if we hurry, we can get one last treasure today."

Louie: -head rises- "Really? Where? Are we going down into that cave we discovered earlier today?"

Olimar: "No, Louie. I already told you. We opened up that hole so that we could empty the puddle, remember? I don't want to spend an unnecessarily long amount of time underground. We only need one more treasure. We can get it in the area behind the ship. We broke down the wall to that area a number of days ago. But, it was too late in the day to venture back there. Today, however, I think we have enough time. The area is filled with water, so we'll need blue Pikmin."

The Red Leader dismisses the purples.

Olimar: "I suggest we keep the whites out here with us, though. There is a ledge in back of our ship that I can peer over, but not climb over. I have surveyed the area and there is no treasure in sight, even though my Treasure Gauge reads a treasure back there. We may have to use the whites to dig it out."

As the Red Leader speaks, the Blue Leader stands beneath the blue Seed Hut and calls 80 Pikmin down from it. The blues slide down the long "legs" of the Seed Hut to the ground.

Louie: "Captain, why won't the Pikmin ever come out when there are already 100 down with us?"

Olimar: -shrugs- "There are still many mysteries that have yet to be unraveled concerning the Pikmin. That is one of them."

Louie: -looks at the blue Pikmin- "They're so fascinating..."

Olimar: "Well, we aren't spending much more time in their presence, Louie; so, tell you what: You lead the blue army around to the left and back behind us. I'll stay here with the whites. How does that sound?"

Louie: "What?" -eyes widen- "Really? What if I run into some bugs? You actually trust me?"

Olimar: "I trust you well enough."

Louie: -jumps up and down- "Wow! Thank you! I've never been able to lead the away team before!"

Olimar: "The what?"

Louie: "The... going-out-and-doing-stuff Pikmin."

Olimar: "Oh. Yeah, well... Have fun, I suppose."

The Blue Leader runs off and is followed by the Blue Pikmin.

What?! I think to myself. The Blue Leader is leaving the Red Leader behind? I didn't think this ever happened! What's going on?

The Red Leader walks back towards the storage vessel. We (the whites) follow. Then the Red Leader goes around the storage vessel to the left and walks down a small incline between two rock walls.

When we get to the bottom of the incline, the Red Leader looks over a lower part of the far wall. Being white and therefore the shortest type of Pikmin, I cannot see over the ledge, but the Red Leader appears to be watching something. I wish I could see too!

The Red Leader begins to speak.

Olimar: "Louie! Some of your Pikmin are missing and some have lost their flowers! How did that happen?"

I hear the Blue Leader's voice from beyond the wall.

Louie: "I had them swarm a few Water Dumples back near this place's entrance. No problem, Cap. I told some of my Pikmin to carry the bodies back to the Onion. That's why they're missing."

Olimar: "That's great news, Louie. Keep up the good work."

Louie: "What's this? My Treasure Gauge just went off! There's a treasure buried under my feet!"

Olimar: "Okay. I'm throwing the whites over this wall. Call them to you and make sure they don't go in the water."

The Red Leader grabs hold of the Pikmin behind him and throws it over the rock wall. Then he does the same with all the rest of us.

I land with the others on a very small beach beside a pool of water. There is a grassy peninsula that extends into the puddle. The Blue Leader is there. He whistles for the blues to stay where they are (in the water) and whistles for us whites to go to him.

I walk along the peninsula. Then one of my fellows suddenly starts to dig. I take a look at that spot and realize that there is an item under there! I rush in to dig as well.

A little spike pops up. The Blue Leader watches us. As we unearth more and more of the item, he begins to speak.

Louie: "Uh... This thing looks sort of like an... Onion."

Olimar: "Indeed it does. Maybe it is an abandoned one. No color of Pikmin I know resembles its peachy hue."

The item pops out and we begin to carry it.

Olimar: "Okay, Louie. Now, call the Pikmin... Louie! What are you doing?! NO!!!"

Along with my fellow whites, I carry the item... into the water.

The shock and pain of being submerged is instantaneous. Since I breathe through my skin, the water seeps into my body, choking every inch of my writhing form. I scream for help, thrashing about in the water. I only faintly hear the screams of my fellows as they too are suffocated.

Suddenly, I am thrown from the water, not by a Leader, but by a blue Pikmin. The Blue Leader must have directed them to save us!

I land back on the shore, where the water slowly seeps from my hazarded skin. Fellow whites fall around me... but for some it is too late.

I watch in horror as the six whites that were not rescued in time stop squirming. A few small bubbles rise from their bodies, which sink into the mud at the bottom of the lake.

I turn away and cover my eyes. In order not to contemplate how painful a death that would have been, I listen to the Red Leader's shouting.

Olimar: "Louie! You idiot! This is exactly the type of carelessness that prevented me from letting you lead armies before! Why can't I get it drilled into your little brain that only blue Pikmin can walk through water?! You have to be careful and aware of your surroundings, Louie! I'm glad I won't have to deal with your incompetence much longer. That screw-up of yours ended the lives of SIX PIKMIN! These Pikmin have saved my life and our company, and how do you repay them? By killing thirty percent of all white Pikmin in the field! If you were trapped here like I was on my first trip, you wouldn't last a single day!"

I look at the Blue Leader his hands are balled into fists. This is the first time I've seen him really angry.

Louie: "Oh yeah?! Well, I'll bet I could last longer than you here! At least I would have something to eat! I give you a huge menu of every bug recipe I know and you order nothing but a Wollywog burger! Have you no creativity?"

I look back at the Red Leader, who is looking out from over the rock wall. He doesn't look angry anymore. Now he bites his lip and looks to the side.

Olimar: "Well... Uh... You see... I wanted to be cautious. I had never eaten one of your dishes before. It... It was quite a good burger. But... But just because you can cook doesn't mean you can survive here forever!"

The Red Leader is angry again.

Olimar: "We're going home! I notice that, once again, you're not paying attention to the Pikmin. Your blues have carried off the Onion-shaped treasure. They are bringing it back to the ship without authorization!"

Louie: "Authorization, shmauthorization! They're doing their job and I'm doing mine!"

I only now realize what the Leaders are doing. They are fighting. This is bad. If they can't get along, they won't be able to work together to keep us Pikmin alive.

Olimar: "Your job will forever be that of the lowest rank in Hocotate Freight, for you lack the discipline, memory and attention span to do anything else! ...other than cook. You lost an entire shipment of golden Pikpik carrots to a space bunny! No doubt that was a product of your carelessness as well! You're the reason we're in this fix and I've had to get us out of it! All of Hocotate suffered when its biggest company went under; and that company just happened to be Hocotate Freight!"

Louie: "Well, Hocotate sucks! You suck! I'd rather stay here than go back! There are no rules here except the ones you impose! This place is beautiful. I don't care if oxygen is deadly to us; Hocotate is a wasteland without it!"

Just then, the voice of the floating vessel interrupts the two.

Pod: "Initiating valuation of recovered treasure. The artifact is worth... 30 Pokos. I hereby dub this object... the Onion Replica. Mission complete! You have collected over 10,000 Pokos! Now Hocotate Freight will be prosperous and debt-free until the end of time! ...probably. Prepare to blast off! We return to Hocotate triumphantly!"

Olimar: -punches the air- "There you go, Louie! Mission accomplished! Let's go. Throw the whites up to me and lead the blues around."

Louie: -lowers head- "Yes, Captain."

The Blue Leader throws all of us whites back up to the Red Leader, who leads us back in front of the storage vessel. The Red Leader than goes over to the blue Seed Hut, under which is a cluster of blue Pikmin and a circle of blue Pikmin sprouts. He pulls each of the sprouts (which are all bud-bearing) from the ground and dismisses the blues. Then the Blue Leader arrives and dismisses his blues as well.

The Red Leader dismisses us as well and walks over to the storage vessel. I'm still wet from my close call in the water and am eager to get back into the storage vessel where I can rest. And yet... I deliberately get in the back of the line. I want to see if anything else happens with the Leaders. I hope their conflict is resolved.

Olimar: -steps into the light of the Pod- "Come, Louie. We're going home."

The Red Leader is sucked up by the floating vessel.

Clouds of smoke begin to issue from under the storage vessel. Grinding, whirring, clicking noises start coming from it. I get the feeling that it is preparing to move to a new location, like it has every night.

I quickly hop into the entrance nozzle, but the last thing I glimpse is the Blue Leader. He has turned his back on the storage vessel and is walking away...