Disclaimer: I own neither pikmin nor its characters
Chapter 22: evil and kind
I woke up with the usual headache, but it seemed a bit better today. Maybe this cold was finally clearing up…anyways, after eating, we landed and got out. With my clearer head, I figured it was time to take on the bulbear. I took a deep breath in, and took out the blues. The onion was still pale, and Aqua was obviously sick, but I remembered she needed to be out of the onion, plus it would be easier to get the part back through the water. In fact, maybe we could go around the bulbear. We cut through the water and I told the pikmin to grab the part. What I had forgotten was that Aqua couldn't direct them. The onion was still in sight, so the pikmin knew where to go, but without Aqua's leadership, they ran right into the bulbear, so much for avoiding it. I called them quickly and back away, not wanting to fight the worst non-boss enemy. To my surprise, it didn't follow. I stood watching it as it turned towards the bushes and roared. Then I realized why it didn't attack, it was told not to. How did I know? A dwarf bulbear came tumbling out with Bulby. "Bulby!" I said, glad that he had told the bulbear not to attack. Olimar was a bit confused though, so I couldn't focus all my attention. "Why don't you rest Olimar? I have something I want to do." I said. He shrugged, which I took as an ok, and took the pikmin, with the part, back to the ship. I saw him climb in as the pikmin lounged around, Aqua further away from the onion than the others, then Bulby decided to tackle me. I chuckled "it's great to see you too Bulby!" "Sorry I didn't visit in the cave, I couldn't get down there easily" he said. Remembering the cave, I remembered it was only the first day I had seen him, and I had gone to him. "It's fine, I've been kind of sick, so I've been occupied." I said. He either didn't comprehend sickness, or didn't care, because he didn't react to my comment. "Who's your new friend?"I asked "he likes Berry" Bulby told me. Will, I suppose that would do. "I looked over to the onion and saw Aqua watching the other pikmin play in the water. I felt bad for Aqua, but I knew she'd just get worse otherwise. It looked like the pikmin were chasing each other, almost like they were playing tag. I noticed the bulbear wondered off, and assumed it had gone into the bushes. Bulby and berry started wrestling, at least that's what it seemed like. I noticed how similar the pikmin and animals were, both liked playing, both had personalities, both were curious, the only thing separating them really was species. Bulby barreled into me at that moment, so I had to bring my mind back. "Sorry Alex!" Bulby said, quickly getting off of me "it's fine" I said. "I win again!" berry said happily "as always" Bulby said. My guess was bulbears were naturally stronger than bulborbs. It made sense, being how they were so much harder to defeat. "How'd you guys meet anyways?" I asked them "we aren't really sure" berry said, "I guess my care taker and his father knew each other and we just met one day" Bulby said. Remembering their descriptions from pikmin 2, I remembered that bulbears and bulborbs weren't too different from each other, besides their feeding habits, but the dwarfs were. Dwarf bulborbs were mimics, and they weren't actually related to the bulborb they were near, but dwarf bulbears were younger spotted bulbears, making them children. It was unknown what the adult version of a dwarf bulborb, or the child version of a grown bulborb, was, but they weren't related "how come you were so friendly to me Bulby?" I asked, not wanting to go back yet "well, I had always been an outcast due to my curiosity of the pikmin. I never really fit in with the other dwarfs, and the bulborbs were too big. When I saw the rocket land, I wanted to go see what it was, but I was too afraid. When I saw you pick the pikmin, and they followed you, I got more and more curious. It took forever for me to find you, and when I did, you had already taken off. I was friendly because I saw how friendly you were, and I wanted to know more about you and the pikmin. I can confidently say that I wasn't disappointed." Bulby said. Wow, that gave me a new perspective on him, and every was getting dark, and I knew the sun would set soon. The remaining parts were in the back half, so I wanted some rest. "Bye Bulby, see you soon" I said "bye" was his and berries reply before they went into the bushes. I yawned and went back to the ship. The pikmin had already gotten into their onions, and Olimar had climbed into the ship long before. I climbed in, and we took off. I wondered about what I would do if I was forced alone on this strange land. I fell asleep with my still fogy mind wondering.
Well, another chapter done! There isn't a lot of action in the perplexing pool, so most of it will probably be filler chapters. I love the feedback I'm getting, it's really encouraging me to keep going. Remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to ideas. Thanks for reading, more on the way!