76. The God Fruit

Wistful Wild

Gonshiri led Team Rupert to a land called the Climate Plains, a plain divided in four segments with respective seasons. They landed in the Autumn Zone, where Gonshiri claimed the Wistful Wild was located. Their Onions landed in an open area without monsters. Five Wing Pikmin were carrying Timothy's swollen body as Rupert, Hikari, and Gonshiri stepped outside. "This part is the only place where the monsters don't roam." Gonshiri explained. "Unfortunately, we're rather far from the Den of Dreams where the God Fruit is."

"Can we make it in time?" Rupert asked.

"Under 23 hours, I'm certain we can. The only things I'm afraid of are the monsters. And…"

"And what?"

"Well… the truth is, while I have been mastering my plantbending powers, the God Fruit has been extinct for centuries. It will be difficult to revive the fruit, even from where it was last grown. But I will surely try."

"Let's focus on getting there first. It shouldn't be hard with your plantbending."

"Unfortunately, this land is chi-blocked except for the cave itself. We have only our Pikmin to rely on. How many have you collected?"

"A heck of a lot!" Rupert smirked. "Don't worry, Timmy, we're gonna save you!" (Play "Wistful Wild" from Pikmin 2!)

Stage 69: Wistful Wild

Mission: Find the God Fruit and save Timothy!

Act 1

Team Rupert assembled 20 Wing, Purple, Rock, Blue, and Red Pikmin, 15 Music and Green Pikmin, and 10 Yellow, Brown, White, and Ice Pikmin, making 175 total (including the five carrying Timmy). Their first bounty was a Red, Orange, Black, and Light Dwarf Bulborb grazing in grass, but the kids easily defeated the small monsters to have them out of the way. They walked around a wall to a field with Skutterchucks, still very easy enemies for the Rock Pikmin to crush. The only way out of this field was a spider-web wall with three Arachnodes. The kids sent Wing Pikmin up to beat the spiders, then used their Brown Pikmin to carry them up the webs. The Browns and Wings helped the other Pikmin up as well.

The three Pikmineers overlooked a large pond with a Frosty Cannon Beetle on the opposite side. "That beast must have wandered here from the Winter Zone." Gonshiri assumed. "I'll swim over and defeat it." Indeed, the Cannon Beetle was freezing a path over the pond using his giant snowballs. The humans kept their Pikmin out of harm's way while Gonshiri swam over with the Wing Pikmin. Skeeterskates shot the Wings out of the air with keen aiming, so Rupert and Hikari called them to safety. When the princess was across, they sent the Wing Pikmin over to her to dispose of the Frosty Beetle.

The kids used Ice Pikmin to freeze a path over the pond for their comrades, but the Skeeterskates furiously tried to drown them. Rupert threw Blue Pikmin on the water spiders, then dove under the pond to get them back and bring them across the ice bridge again. Once across the pond, the trio overlooked a dangerous field of Gatling Groinks, patrolling circles around a central stage. There were eight on the field, so the kids ran to different corners and ganged up on the cyborg fish with Purple and Red Pikmin. Five Reds and seven Purples were destroyed.

"I can't help but notice the enemies are more feisty out here." Rupert commented. "Hikari, run back and get replacements."

"The Wistful Wild puts all Pikmin users to the test." Gonshiri replied. "You have to be on guard against these beasts."

The kids assembled 15 Music Pikmin on the central stage. The Music Pikmin performed a rendition of "Clickclock Wood Autumn" from Banjo-Kazooie. Giant dandelions bloomed on the surrounding cliffs and took flight in the air. Rupert and Gonshiri could grab the stem of a close dandelion and swing up a series of the floating flowers. The Pikmin mimicked their actions exactly as they set foot on a walkway on the side of a tree. Blue dragonflies called Flitters fluttered above, rather harmless and provided nectar if they are defeated. The kids KO'ed some Flitters and let their Blue and Ice Pikmin have the rations.

"This is a Swoopy airway." Gonshiri said, indicating the closed door under the foothold. "We need to open it with Yellow Pikmin somewhere. Perhaps up there." She noticed the foothold and stairs high above them, a good reach for their Yellow Pikmin. The Pikmin instinctively went up the stairs, and five were needed to power a generator. The tree hole door opened, and giant red-and-white birds called Swoopies glided from there to the opposite tree. When a Swoopy was coming out, the kids and their Pikmin dropped on its back, swooped across, and jumped off on a path on the next tree.

The path led around the right of the tree, and they had to use a vine to swing over a gap. However, that vine was a Piranha Plant tongue, and would slurp in any unlucky prey. Rupert smirked and threw a White Pikmin on the tongue, sacrificing the Pikmin to poison the Piranha. The army could swing that tongue without fear of consumption. Rupert looked down at the foothold under the vine, noticing the cracked part of the trunk. "Hey, that looks like a wall we can blow up."

"We can't worry about that now, Timothy needs us!" Gonshiri reminded.

"Well, you said we have plenty of time, we can still look for…" Rupert fell silent under Gonshiri's sharp glare. "Sigh, you're right. I really would like to explore this place, though." The duo came to a long slide that would whisk them past some trees and land on a new field. On the way down, Rupert saw a Koopa shell (Joy of Abuse) on a platform on the left, frozen in ice. Rupert called Hikari and told her, "Hikari, are you bringing the Ice Pikmin? There's a treasure you can get."

"You had better pray Timothy can't hear you in his condition." Gonshiri said reprovingly. The field they landed in consisted of Crazee Dayzees, giant happy flowers with faces and two feet. "The Crazee Dayzees will put our Pikmin to sleep. Only the Music Pikmin are immune." Taking Gonshiri's hint, the duo scattered their Pikmin and took only the Magentas. They defeated the Skitter Leafs roaming the ground as the Dayzees sang beautiful melodies. Rupert and Shiri felt a tad drowsy from the singing, so they fought a few Dayzees, who would easily shake the Pikmin off and run away.

"Don't bother, they're hard to defeat." Gonshiri mentioned. "I see a stage over there. Perhaps it will be of use." They guided their 15 Music Pikmin up a small path to a platform with a stage. The Pikmin sang the sad music from Paper Mario: TTYD, and the emotional tune calmed the Dayzees' spirits into slumber. Near the entrance to the field, there was a flower with a cluster of colorful petals. They used the White Pikmin to quickly carry the petals around the Dayzee field and stack them in a pile for the lot to climb up to a high pathway. "The Dayzees should stay asleep if we don't disturb them."

"Princess, look at that one!" Rupert pointed at a golden Dayzee within the crowd. "It's gold!"

"That's an Amazy Dayzee. It produces 200 Pikmin and is worth 10,000 points. But it's very spry and powerful, so don't try to catch it."

"All right. Who's that fairy drawing a picture of it?"

"Probably a sightseer."

Hikari eventually regrouped with her team as they climbed the petal pile to the new path. A Fire Piranha rose up to block the way, so the kids had their Red Pikmin fight it. When the plant threatened to gnash down, they quickly called the Pikmin back, and repeated the pattern until the plant was down. They had the Red Pikmin carry the head back to repopulate. The path led them to an even more vast field with an orange Jasper gem in the center.

"Don't touch that stone!" Gonshiri cautioned. "It may look ordinary, but it's actually a powerful monster. I know you want to try and battle it, but let's save our Pikmin for the job at hand."

"Where do we go from here?" Rupert asked.

"The cave we need to go is just across." Gonshiri led the two around the gem and toward a hole protected by a crystal. They destroyed the crystal with Rock Pikmin. "This is the Den of Dreams. It's not actually the hardest cave in Wistful Wild; the Pit of 100 Trials has that luxury. Thousands of years ago, this cavern was a sacred temple housing the God Fruit as its most sacred relic. But because of the story of the Grand Inferius… my ancestors thought it best to let the fruit die off."

"But couldn't a fruit like this save the world from disease?"

"It could… I believe the Minish simply feared its power. …Sigh, let's get it over with. Follow me." Gonshiri dove in first. Rupert and Hikari exchanged nods and jumped after. Their army of Pikmin followed, carrying Timothy still. Little did they know, a one-eyed organism was watching… (Play "Bulblax Kingdom" from Pikmin 2!)

Act 2: Den of Dreams

With their 175 replenished Pikmin, Team Rupert marched into the cave. Not long after entering, they came to a pit where a Putrid and Frost Piranha emerged from. The towering plants would spit their elements down to stun the Pikmin, so the kids kept their Ice and Poison types at the ready. When the Piranhas' heads would gnash down, they threw their Pikmin on to lay the beatdown. The plants' heads snapped off, so while those Pikmin took the prey to the Onions (situated above the hole), the kids had Wing Pikmin fly over the pit and make a bridge from the tile pile.

The army crossed the bridge and entered a corridor with Piranha Buds, who would always face nearby Pikmin and be ready to chomp in their mouths. The kids threw White Pikmin overhead, redirecting the plants' vision while their Purple Pikmin could beat them from behind. The cave turned left and would lead to a walkway on the side of a chasm. A sticky mud floor prevented other Pikmin from crossing, so the Brown Pikmin were up to the task.

Further down the tunnel was a breakable wall that was blocking their path. There was an alternate tunnel over the pit, and below was a water geyser aimed at the tunnel. The kids bravely jumped in the geyser and blew up to the new path with their Pikmin. The tunnel led them to a wider cave where they had to remain on the side of a chasm. Further down, a Crawmad emerged from a hole, so Rupert sent White Pikmin as bait to draw it out, call them back, and quickly swarm the creature. They found an enclosing with Bomb Rocks and used them to blow open the cracked wall leading to the other path.

They arrived at a bigger ground and were blocked by a wall of vertical and horizontal bars. There was a hatch near the top right, but it could only open from inside. Gonshiri threw three Green Pikmin into the pit so they would return as Ghosts. They phased through the bars and opened the hatch. There was also strings and twigs on the other side, which the Ghost Pikmin collected to make into a ladder. The trio could climb the ladder into the cell, and a geyser was available to blow them back out. The cave directed down and into water, so from here, the kids had to submerge with their Blue and Ghost Pikmin.

There were snoozing Rip Van Fish, which Gonshiri advised against waking (shaking her head 'no' since they were underwater). The three replenished their air by swimming through large bubbles that grew from the ground. There was a foothold accessible via a slope that was blocked by a sand gate, though it didn't matter at the moment. There was a cluster of rocks in a corner which the Blue and Ghost Pikmin could destroy, uncovering a hole that drained all the water out. The Rip Van Fish were helplessly flopping around, easy prey for the Pikmin if they wanted.

They called the other Pikmin down to break the sand gate, allowing them to get to the higher foothold. This ground was empty except for some dirt patches, but the White Pikmin detected treasure underneath a patch. They dug it up and discovered a golden acorn (Rodent Candy). "Perhaps we can use it for something." Gonshiri said. The way out of this room was blocked by an ice wall, so the Ice Pikmin held the honors of breaking it. A slope led up to a new room, and they would have to follow a long tunnel on the left. There was a giant hole in the side of this wide tunnel, and Rupert felt some familiarity with this.

He sent the White Pikmin to carry the gold acorn across the tunnel. A squirrel peeped out of the hole and gave chase, but it failed to match the White Pikmin's speed. On the other side of the tunnel, they would cross a tile bridge to a platform, and the bridge would collapse under the squirrel's weight and make it fall into the chasm. The Pikmineers followed and found themselves in a deep, vast cave. "The God Fruit is not far from here. Be careful going down." the princess cautioned.

Fire slugs (or Pyroclasmic Slooches) were occupying an open platform ahead, but they were no match to the Red Pikmin. There were platforms over the chasm with small pools and Skeeterskates sniping them with water bombs. They were too far to throw Pikmin to, too quick for the Wing Pikmin, and even more annoying were the glowing mushrooms that kept away Ghost Pikmin. They were forced to avoid the nuisances and progress, although five Purple Pikmin fell over the edge when running after getting soaked.

The next path had small gaps that were sprouting water jets, and would send them to the start of the section. The Ice Pikmin froze all the jets they could, but this in turn instigated a large jet on a distant platform. That platform was connected to the one the White Pikmin holding the acorn were still on, so they used it to fling back to the path. Rupert gave them the green light to carry the gold acorn back to base. The kids proceeded past the frozen geysers and came to a field of giant Clefts.

Only the Rock Pikmin were a match for the stone monsters. The Pikmineers threw the Rocks at the Clefts' feet until they would shatter, leaving only the Clefts' helpless stone bodies. There was a low path under the edge, leading to the next foothold, but it was too high above that path. Rupert thought the Clefts could be thrown onto the path and serve as a bridge, but before doing so, he noticed a cracked wall at the end of that path.

"You are not going all the way back for a Bomb Rock just to blow up that wall!" Gonshiri scolded.

"Fine, Timmy comes first!" Denied from treasure once again, Rupert commanded the Pikmin to throw down the Clefts and make a bridge. The road ahead was plagued with Bulborbs large and small, from white, red, orange, to shiny. They used the Purple and Red Pikmin to gang up on the Bulborbs, while the Yellows took care of the Shiny Bulborb.

The following route was more narrow and had parallel rows of Anode Beetles standing on small platforms. In a pattern, each set of beetles connected by electric beams, threatening to destroy the Pikmin should they falter. Only the Yellow Pikmin could hurt them, but attempting to do so would make the Yellows fall to their death. The kids noticed a wall of fire geysers across the bridge, so they focused on bringing five Reds past the Anode Beetles so they could destroy the geysers. They carefully worked on guiding the other Pikmin across, but 4 Blues and 5 Browns were wasted (the Browns tripped and got stuck on the ground).

Following the fire gate was an electric gate, testing their patience not to waste Yellow Pikmin, so thankfully they had plenty to tear the gate down. The cavern ahead was filled with roaming Dweevils of all colors, but the Pikmineers bypassed them as the cave grew dark and sloped down. The five White Pikmin returned from delivering the gold acorn, so with all their remaining Pikmin, they entered the center of the cave. (End song.)

On their left in the darkness of the massive cavern was a fleet of Onions, withered as though they haven't been touched for centuries. It included colors of Pikmin Rupert had not seen, like orange, silver, and even the Ghosts' green. It was without doubt Malarko's One Thousand Pikmin. In the center of the cave was a great tree, long dead. "That tree once grew the God Fruit… I can't believe it is still standing."

"So, can you bring it to life?" Rupert asked.

Gonshiri approached the tree slowly. The princess placed a hand on the trunk and closed her eyes. There was a faint energy radiating from it. "I…I hear them."

"Hear what?"

"The voices of the plants… They are all over this place…"

In Gonshiri's vision, the cavern was full of blossoming flowers, warming the cave with their mystical glow. Gonshiri turned to a couple of shrinking violets. "Hello, Princess. We've been waiting for you."

"You've been waiting?"

"We thought the princess would return." a sunflower said. "A long time ago, she destroyed this place because she feared the God Fruit. She said she had a nightmare where the God Fruit brought destruction to all. But she promised she would return. I'm glad you're back, Princess… Will you bring us back to life?"

"I…I'm not sure how to. You all have been dead for centuries. It can't be that easy."

"Take us with you, Princess. Back to the living world. Take our leaves and invite us home."

"Invite you… home…" Gonshiri lightly took the shrinking violets' hands. A light energy flowed from her hand and covered the flowers. Rupert and Hikari gazed in awe as two violets sprouted from the ground.

"Who is she talking to?" Rupert asked.

"Flower ghosties, silly!" Hikari beamed.

Gonshiri touched the sunflower and revived it. She touched a gray rose and revived it. Then, the princess looked up at the flourishing tree… the bulbous, pinkish-red God Fruit was shiny and succulent. Gonshiri smiled and climbed the tree to touch the fruit. It was humongous, so it required a longer touch and more energy. The fruit that cured all illnesses was restored.

"Sigh…" Gonshiri felt physically drained. "Quickly… Feed Timothy a piece."

They cut the giant fruit down and brought it to Timmy. They only needed to pull off a relatively tiny portion to place into his mouth. His red skin returned to peach color and his swelling shrunk down. "Huff…huff…" Rupert helped him to his feet. He smiled at his friend, happy to have saved him. …Timmy punched Rupert in the jaw. "I want 100 bucks now!"

"Ow! Fine…"

"Now to destroy this fruit." Gonshiri stated. "I need to restore my chi in order to kill it. Perhaps a quick bite will suffice."

"Not gonna happen, Princess." The four whipped around: Sheldon J. Plankton was riding a giant spider robot with four legs.

"Who the heck are you?!" Rupert exclaimed.

"The name's Plankton, you pint-size pests. Lesser Lord Gnik knew you would be after the God Fruit and sent me to take it. Check this baby out! I tamed one of the woodland creatures and gave him a battle suit. Suits him fine, right, heh heh. Titan Dweevil, FIRE!" The giant spider blasted a flamethrower at the kids. Ten mini Pikbots raced in and grabbed the fruit, then raced out of the cave.

"COME BACK WITH IT!" Gonshiri tried to chase, but the Titan Dweevil smashed its center down and crushed her.

"PRINCESS!" the humans cried.

"You kids aren't going anywhere." Plankton stated. "Lesser Lord Gnik ordered me to destroy you, too. Get ready to be the first prey of my Titan Dweevil! ATTACK!" (Play Titan Dweevil's theme from Pikmin 2!)

Boss fight: Titan Dweevil

The Titan Dweevil used a 5-ton weight on the bottom of its center to create shockwaves and knock the Pikmin army down. Team Rupert tried to stay on their feet and hurriedly blow whistles to call them back. "Ghost Pikmin, Wing Pikmin, attack him!" Rupert commanded. Five of each Pikmin flew up to Plankton, but searchlights activated on the Dweevil to weaken the Ghosts, followed by fly-swatters to smash the Wings, killing those Pikmin. "NO!"

"Your cheesy little Leafmen can't touch me!" Plankton laughed. "The Titan Dweevil may not be a match for the big humans, but to you, it's the most powerful beast in my arsenal! You can almost SMELL the power!" Plankton commanded the beast to use a bug spray and spread a cloud of gas along the ground. Team Rupert held their breaths and ran onto a hill above the gas. Their Pikmin were running frantically in pain, so the kids whistled for their safety, but 4 Blues, 5 Purples, and 3 Yellows were killed.

"Timothy, Hikari, take the Rocks and Purples and go behind it." Rupert instructed. "I'll use the Brown Pikmin to try and stick its feet to the ground." The kids nodded and ran separate directions around the Dweevil. Plankton smirked and used shockwaves in attempt to stun them, but the quakes didn't affect the Purple Pikmin, and the rocks that fell from the ceiling couldn't crush the Rock Pikmin. Rupert charged from the front using Brown Pikmin, but Plankton decided to wash the creatures away by shooting giant water droplets around the room using a hose.

Rupert was crushed by a droplet, quickly catching his breath and whistling for his Pikmin's recovery. Some of the Pikmin waiting safely in the back were drenched, but while Rupert was whistling for them, the Dweevil made shockwaves and knocked him down. Two Yellows and 3 Reds drowned in the droplets. "Come on!" Timothy whispered to Hikari. The two went under the creature with Purple Pikmin and threw it onto the 5-ton weight.

"What the-?!" Plankton saw what they were doing and used more Ground Pounds to shake them off.

"Fooled ya!" Rupert had thrown a Brown Pikmin under the weight, and when it was squished, the weight was glued to the ground. The Purple Pikmin resumed beating it, and despite Plankton's attempts to shake it free, the Pikmin successfully detached the weight from the body. "All your Dweevil is is a big treasure hoard!" Rupert snapped at Plankton.

"The only treasures here will be your heads mounted on my wall!" Plankton smacked the fly-swatters around the ground to scare the operatives into retreating.

"I think we should hit those searchlights next." Rupert suggested. "We can throw our Yellow Pikmin up there."

"Don't leave ME out of the conversation!" Plankton launched electrical spheres from a lightbulb toward the "safe" Pikmin. The spheres connected via electric beams and immediately killed all the Pikmin between.

"NO!!" the kids cried. Almost all their remaining Pikmin were extinguished.

"BLAAAAH HA HA HA!" Plankton cackled. "You humans have yet to understand the laws of predator and prey. If the prey doesn't have the brains to survive, like Yours Truly, THEY'RE FINISHED!"

"We're not done, yet!" Rupert threw Brown Pikmin on the Dweevil's feet and glued them to the ground. Plankton growled and used a built-in ice machine to drop an ice bomb, freezing the surrounding Pikmin. The Dweevil stepped free of the Brown Pikmin and used the flamethrower to melt their frozen bodies. "Guys, hurry up!" Rupert called the Purples and Rocks into unfreezing, but 3 of each were melted in the flames.

"Hehehehehehe…" Plankton was almost giggling. "You're all out of Pikmin, kids. What are you going to do, now?"

"Nnn…" Rupert grit his teeth and looked at Malarko's Onion fleet. "It's worth a shot." Rupert ran for the red Onion.

"Rupert, I thought you could only use your friends' or family's Pikmin!" Timothy yelled.

"Well, do YOU have any spare Pikmin?!"

"No, but…but you won't be able to take Malarko's!"

"One way to find out." Rupert blew his whistle at the Onion. 20 Red Pikmin came out of it. "IT WORKED!!"

"NO WAY!" Timmy exclaimed.

"Let me try the others!" Rupert summoned Pikmin from each of the Onions. Their arsenal was replenished, so without hesitating, they sent Wing Pikmin up at Plankton.

"Your flies are STILL no match for me!" Plankton furiously swatted the Wings away.

"You need to chill out!" Rupert retorted as they threw Ice Pikmin at the hose. Their frost proved superior against the water device, freezing the nozzle and snapping it off Titan Dweevil's body.

"Not before I FIRE you!" Plankton blasted the flamethrower to destroy the Ice Pikmin.

"Barbeque is yucky!" Hikari countered by throwing Red Pikmin at the exposed flamethrower. Plankton shook them off and used the bug spray, so Hikari called the Reds away while Rupert ran in with the White Pikmin. Holding his breath, he tossed the Whites onto the bug spray, but didn't deal enough damage until they were shaken off. Plankton used the lightbulb again and surrounded all the Pikmin with electric spheres. The trio scrambled to call them away from the link points, but 7 Purples, 6 Ice, and 3 Blues were obliterated.

"Hikari, let's start throwing Yellows on that bulb!" Rupert declared. "Timmy, go get more Pikmin!"

"You shouldn't say your plans out loud, fool!" Plankton remarked. "I'll use my Ice Bomb now!" He used the bug spray to poison the Pikmin. "Just joking!"

"Yeah, so were we!" Rupert sent White Pikmin on the bug spray and succeeded in detaching it. "Hikari, now!" He called the Yellows back and resumed throwing them on the lightbulb. The Titan Dweevil used a glue stick to shoot glue around the ground, binding the kids and Pikmin in place. While the Brown Pikmin began trying to free them, Plankton used the lightbulb again. Timmy returned and tossed Rocks on the exposed bulb, zapping them slightly, but breaking the bulb off the spider in the process.

An angered Plankton smacked the twin fly-swatters at the ground to smoosh some Pikmin, but he had the misfortune of crushing Brown ones. The swatters were stuck, so the kids threw Purple Pikmin to weigh them down further, resulting in the swatters being snapped off the hinges. Plankton shot glue around the field and trapped several Pikmin, but Hikari avoided getting stuck and threw Brown Pikmin on the stick. Plankton was unable to shake them off quickly, and during his distraction, Timothy recovered and tossed Purple Pikmin on with them. They added extra damage in snapping the glue off the Dweevil.

"He's not looking too powerful now!" Rupert remarked. "We'll give you a chance to run away, Plankton!"

"Just BURN ALREADY!!" Plankton unleashed gas over the Pikmin and followed this with the flamethrower to create an explosion, killing the creatures instantly. Thankfully, Timmy was still in position to throw Purple Pikmin on the bug spray, doing enough damage until it snapped off.

"You little-!" Plankton launched the Ice Bomb and froze Timmy and the Purple Pikmin, but Hikari seized the chance to throw Reds on the ice and double the damage with their fiery bodies. When Plankton was trying to shake them off, Rupert ran up and threw Yellow Pikmin up to the Dweevil's searchlights. "NO FAIR!" Plankton desperately shook the Pikmin off the lights, but his ice-maker was detached.

Plankton reused the flamethrower, so the kids assembled the Reds and chucked them onto the device, followed by Hikari throwing Yellow Pikmin on the searchlights. Both of the parts were destroyed, leaving the Dweevil with only one means of defense. "Say good-bye to your eardrums, FOOLS!" Plankton put muffs over his antennas as the Dweevil played earth-quaking music from a stereo. Boulders fell from the ceiling and crushed numerous Pikmin.

"QUICK, THE MUSICS!!" Rupert and co. ran for the magenta Onion and called 20 Music Pikmin, who were not phased by the deafening sounds. Withstanding the horrid pain in their ears and dodging the boulders, Team Rupert threw Music Pikmin on the stereo. They were shaken off and had to be re-thrown several times, but eventually the music blaster was destroyed. The final pieces of Titan Dweevil's mechanical armor came off, exposing the hideous four-legs for what it was: a light reddish-pink spider with defenseless skin.

"I knew I should've installed the rockets." Plankton sighed.

"Pikmin:" Rupert pointed forth and blew the whistle. "SWAAAAAARRRRRMMMM!"

"GAAAAH!" Plankton and the Titan Dweevil were completely overpowered by the Pikmin Army. As the Dweevil's body was ripped to shreds, the Ghost Pikmin took Plankton for their banquet. "W-Wait! I'll tell you the secret formula! Free Krabby Patties for a year! They're much tastier than I am! KAREN, TURN OFF THE STOVE AT THREE O'-" He was brought to the green Onion and sucked into the pod. Like any other captured prey, a Pikmin seed squirted out and planted in the ground. The top of this Pikmin's head peeped out: it had two leaf antennas and a single eye. "Curses…"

"I think we just discovered a new species!" Rupert joked.

"Yah… You think the Pikmin would do this to us if we died?" Timothy asked.

"Hah, no, of course not! …Eh." Rupert may have trouble sleeping tonight. (End song.)

"Ow…" Gonshiri recovered, holding her head.

"Are you alright, Princess?" Rupert asked.

"Yes… where did that creature go?"

"We beat it!" Hikari jumped. "Rupy borrowed Pikmin from Malarky's Onions!"

"Malarky's…?" Gonshiri faced the Onion fleet. "You took Pikmin from Malarko's fleet?! How?"

"I don't know." Rupert shrugged. "I just did."

"You can only use Pikmin that were owned by family or friends…" Gonshiri stroked her chin. "Did you… borrow Pikmin from any Minish?"

"Sappo and Gibli lent us their Pikmin before they were kidnapped by Shelly."

"Lenari often lets those two borrow his Pikmin… If they lent them to you… perhaps you could have…"

"How does that make sense?" Timothy asked.

"Lenari is Malarko's descendant."

"Descendant?!" Rupert exclaimed. "You mean Lenari could've used these Pikmin all along?!"

"Of course… but for most Pikmineers, taking someone else's Pikmin is cheap and lazy. They prefer to assemble their own army. Still, now that you have access to the One Thousand Pikmin, there's nothing stopping you from taking them."

Rupert stared at the Onion fleet. Green Onions for the Ghost Pikmin, Orange Onions, Silver Onions… brand new Pikmin would be all his. "You're right… it wouldn't be fun. I'd rather find those Pikmin myself." He blew the whistle and sent Malarko's Pikmin back to their Onions.

"Too bad we're not gonna have time until the Apocalypse destroys us." Timmy reminded.

Gonshiri gasped. "The God Fruit! Where is it?!"

The Pikbots made it out of the cave and were hurrying to the Crab Craft with the God Fruit. A black boot stomped in their path, and the fruit was swiped by Lucas Stonebuddy. "I'll take this off your hands, if you don't mind." The World Leader leapt to the sky as his stone body soared away, under control of his true body's earthbending.

Tree of Beginning

Regigigas led the earthbenders deep into the tree's underbelly; a flight of stairs that seemed to take hours to venture down. "Are we walking to the core or somethin'?" Tom Taylor asked in exhaust. "Why don't you just tell us what's down here."

"Down here is the most important secret in the entire world." Queen Lánshelly stated. "Even Gonshiri doesn't know."

"WHEEEE!" Granite cheered as she flew in her spirit form. "We don't have to walk the stairs because we're ghostiiieees."

"Hey Sovite, now YOUR descendant is complaining." Hornfels snickered.

"Grrrr. Dammit, Tom, hurry up!" Sovite stated.

"Anthony, I'm beating you!" Michelle cheered as she jumped backwards down two stairs each. "I'm beating you! I'm beating you!"

"Like heck you are!" Anthony began to race down- "OW, OW, AAAH!" He quickly tripped and bounced all the way down to the bottom, which was 10 stairs away.

Michelle bounced off his back and continued on. "Lucky, nothing was injured." Shelly remarked, stepping on his back. Tom did the same, and Ikuyim was the one to help him up.

They were brought to a great stone door with a diamond symbol. There were five pedestals planted before it. Each of them had footprints in front and diamond-shaped holes, both of which shared the same colors: one was green, one orange, one gray, one red, and another was purple. "You added another one?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, we added one for Ikuyim's ancestor!" Granite responded. "We met her back when we were alive. She was a great friend!"

"Positive and Negative friendships were a rarity in the olden days." Regigigas said. "Sadly, Latsyrc's spirit was not collected by the Reapers, so she could not be here. Descendants, channel your chi into the pedestals."

Anthony took his place at the green one, Shelly the orange, Tom the red, Emily the gray, and Ikuyim the purple. Mimicking their spirit ancestors, they planted their feet firmly on the prints and crossed hands over the diamond holes. "…Michelle, why did you ask about the other one?"

"You'll see, Anthony." She winked.

The five descendants channeled their Earth Chi and sent power into the door. The diamond glowed, and Michelle used her bending to open it. There were endless, colorful crystals in this room, and at the base of the central pillar was a massive pink crystal with an illusion of a galaxy inside. "This is the Heart of the World." Uxie observed. "The source of this planet's life."

"Is this the big secret?" Shelly asked.

"No." Lánshelly answered. "Originally, the Earth Children were the human Guardians of the Heart… but there is a greater secret."

The children were led up another stairwell to the top of the pillar. There was a baby-size rock creature inside, with a pink diamond on its chest and a pink diamond crown. "This energy…" Uxie approached the diamond. "The energy I've been feeling has been this… Th-This is a-!"

"DON'T SPOIL IT!" Michelle shouted.

"Children, do as you just did. Send your chi into the diamond and awaken this creature." Regigigas instructed.

"But what is it?" Ikuyim asked.

"You will see."

The five kids gathered around and touched the diamond. Their ancestors watched with the greatest anticipation. For 4,000 years, they waited for this moment. The diamond's light shone blindingly as five different chis molded into one core. Michelle and Uxie were the only ones unaffected by the light, and the Firstborn continued to stare at the child with suspicion.

The diamond cracked and shattered as the creature hit the ground. Michelle approached, smiling as she picked it up in her arms. Michelle cradled it like a baby… She closed her eyes peacefully. "I'm gonna miss this body."

They all gaped when Michelle turned into energy. She flowed into the creature's body as a white dress appeared over it. Its diamonds glowed and it floated upright. She opened her red eyes with purple pupils to view everyone.

"Hello, everyone!" The spirit smiled. "I'm Diancie. The Firstborn of Earth."

"Mu…Michelle?…" Anthony was beyond confused.

"I'm sorry, Anthony." Diancie's voice was much sweeter and softer than Michelle's. "But… there never was a Michelle. Your mother planned to give birth to a baby girl… but she was bound to die in childbirth. I have the power to sense when any creature is about to die. That's why… I sent my spiritual presence to inhabit the body Michelle would have had and allowed it to grow. When I came to the Negaverse, I realized your Negative created an Imaginary sister named Ellehcim. They didn't say it out loud, but I could feel her psychic energy. It worked in my favor. I've been walking in the places of mortals for 4,000 years."

"But what are you?" Uxie asked harshly. "There was only supposed to be Eight Firstborn created by Arceus. Did Regigigas give birth to you like Kyogre gave birth to Manaphy?"

"I can only remember part of my origin… I was born as the child between Rose Quartz of the Gem race and Titan of the Ores race. My egg was given by Rose to Regigigas after crossing to this world. I had to be kept secret because the knowledge of another Firstborn in the universe would create chaos. I felt lonely… so I put myself in mortal bodies to try to learn who I was. And I met a friend who helped me understand…" She faced Anthony with a smile.

"Who…?"

Diancie floated level with him. The ancestors gathered, looking dumbfounded. Granite, however, was grinning, but their expressions filled Anthony with more confusion. "See, I told you!" Granite said.

"No way… Stone?" Sovite asked.

"So, that's where you've been…" Quartzite observed.

"Stone…" Hornfels smiled.

Anthony gasped, realizing his skin had turned gray. His fellow earthbenders were royally flabbergasted. "Anthony Stone McKenzie." Diancie said. "My Stonebuddy!"

"St…Stonebuddy?!" Anthony exclaimed. "The World Leader?! I'M Stonebuddy?!"

"Stone was another one of our friends." Granite explained. "He was an alien called an Ore, but he was killed."

"I used my power to allow Stone to be reincarnated in the same fashion as myself." Diancie followed. "His most recent incarnation was the World Leader. That man's true name was Lucas Nickel, but his memories were slowly awakening. …That was before… Reggie Johnson used the Octogan to sever his memories. He still possessed Stone's inherited chi, but the part that knew his true identity was lost in the Spirit World. I see that it found its way to you, Anthony. That's why we were both able to counter Lucas's stonebending before. You and I are connected as descendants of the Ores race."

"Time out, TIME OUT!" Anthony screeched, his gray skin becoming normal. "I'm still wrapping my head around the fact my BABY SISTER was actually a… baby god diamond rock monster… THING. Like, ALL this time, you were like this?! You're the same little sister that was better than me at everything, I train for hours because I wanted ta kick your butt one day, I tried SO HARD to be better than you… and all this time, it was POINTLESS because my sister was actually a GOD!!"

"Anthony, I'm sorry. I was only playing around, it's part of being human."

"YOU'RE NOT HUMAN!!"

"I KNOW!" Diancie cried. "I know I gloated a lot, but it was never easy being me! Not understanding why I had to be stuck in a diamond, why I was different from other Firstborn… I would rather be born a mortal and be like everybody else. But I don't even have a pair of feet." She wiggled her stone bottom. "My little toesies are gone. You don't remember it, but Stone felt the same way. He felt like he didn't belong here. That's why I hoped we could reunite and… we could grow together."

Diancie channeled energy between her hands. A Spirit Ball was created, a brown rock bottom and pink diamond top like Diancie's body. She gave it to Anthony. "I always admired how the Earth Children learned from each other and grew together. Now that I get to see it again… I would like to be part of it. Will you let me train with you, Anthony? Will you help me learn who I am?"

"…" Anthony looked away. "This isn't what I wanted at all. Everything is changing too fast. Everything's gonna be different at the end of this month… won't it?"

"I'm afraid it will be." Diancie said. "But we can face it together, Anthony. Just remember… no matter what happens, I'm still your baby sister." She pinched his cheek. "So you'll just have to train even harder to beat me, Anty-Wanty!"

"…" Anthony took the Spirit Ball and smirked. "At least it'll feel nice to carry you in a ball." He threw the Pokéball and captured Diancie. The Spirit Ball burst into a glow.

Anthony McKenzie captured a FIRSTBORN! I wanna say there's one left, but who knows anymore.

The earthbenders returned to the operatives waiting outside the tree. Sector W, Sarah, and Gary were awestruck after hearing the story. "So, yeah. This is Michelle." Anthony showed them. "She was a Firstborn. All along."

"I'm finally outside for the first time!" Diancie twirled in the air. "The sun feels so warm!"

". . . . . That's it. I give up." Harvey stated. "First there was the music girl, then that Moon Firstborn comes along… I don't get it, I JUST don't get it: HOW MANY FIRSTBORN ARE THERE?!"

"Who knows?" Diancie shrugged. "I guess that's another mystery we'll have to find out."

"YOU GUYS!!" Sally Harper rushed out of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R..

"Sally, you missed it! My sister was a-"

"Anthony, you're back! Quick, we have to get up to Moonbase!" The girl was crying.

"Why, Sally?!" Aranea asked.

"It's Cheren! H-He's…"

Gnik's Hideout

"So, Plankton has failed to retrieve the God Fruit." Ragaj Gnik observed. "King Andrew can commence the Grand Inferius. …Just as you had foreseen… Lord English."