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One Piece! The Wonders of Pikmin Island Chapter 6

The Straw Hats, along with the four tame bulborbs, huddled together as the darkness around their oversized campsite stirred with many nocturnal lifeforms, now waking up to begin their hunt for food, and with the Pikmin literally out of reach, the crew were now in seriously hot water.

"Um...Nami?" Usopp chuckled nervously. "Any leads?"

"Your guess is as good mine, Usopp. This island was hard enough to read when we were full grown. Now that we're this size I have no idea where to go with everything so gigantic." a deep growl heightened the navigator's fear before a bulborb, much bigger than the ones they'd hatched, emerged from the foliage. It had a light brown face and black abdomen with red spots, but instead of a pointed snout its face was flatter with thick lips. It sniffed the air before its gaze was drawn to Aika and Kumi who due to their small size gave them an appearance similar to Pikmin in the eyes of the creature (given how stupid and stomach driven it was) as it licked its lips and charged with a hungry roar. But even before Zoro could draw his blades Spot and Fluffy tackled the monster much to its shock of being struck by its own kin, as they bit and clawed at the attacker.

"YEAH! Get him, Spot! Show 'em who's boss, Fluffy! Daddy's so proud!" Luffy grinned as the monster let out a cry of anguish which echoed throughout the forest just as Spot delivered the final blow to its throat.

"Ah they're not so tough." Sanji smirked. "If even our new pets can handle one how much danger can we be in?"

"A lot." the others turned to Robin who was addressing Olimar's journal. "That was a Spotty Bulbear. They're much tougher than regular bulborbs and can even regain health like the Gatling Groink. Our Bulborbs only won in numbers."

"Yeah, so?" Zoro asked before more snarls reached the campsite as the crew looked in horror to see ten new bulbears approaching them.

"They travel in packs at night." Robin answered. "That one we just killed was a scout and it sent out a distress call. And this is only one of the many species that will be roaming the island right now for food."

"Then where are we supposed to go?!" Chopper worried as the bulbears were closing in on them forcing the young bulborbs back.

"Everyone get on a bulborb and follow me! I know a safe spot where we can hide!" Robin instructed as she mounted the groink kart along with Zoro and Franky. Luffy and Nami chose Spot while Sanji and Brook sat on Terry's back, Aika and Kumi rode Fluffy which left Usopp and Chopper with Noodle (Blizzard could keep up on his own) and not a moment too soon as the bulbears had begun to charge.

"Now run! Follow Robin!" Luffy ordered as the crew took off after her with the bulbears in hungry pursuit.

"I don't see why we can't stay and fight!" Zoro complained as he shot down one of them with a calibre phoenix.

"As I've said, this entire island is out for food, just like it was back on Strong World." Robin reminded him. "What's more we've been running around all day trying to find each other, we need to rest and come up with a plan to get big again."

"And we won't exactly be able to do that if we're constantly on alert for something trying to eat us!" Usopp added.

"Exactly. So for now, we retreat. There's a subterranean bunker not too far away. It's where I found these journals among other sources of information about this place including maps."

"Well that would certainly make things easier." Nami noted. "There might even be information on the fruits that shrunk us. Our best bet in finding a cure is there then. Leave it up to Robin to learn the lore of the land first." The raven haired woman smiled at her compliment but it soon fell when the ground ahead of them shook and cracked before five of the giant bulborb worms like the one Nami and Aika had encountered burst from the soil roaring in awakening.

"Empress Bulblaxes!" Robin identified them as the worms began to roll towards the group like a tumbling mound of fleshy logs. The bulborbs, Blizzard and the groink kart bent their knees and with an effortful grunt they leapt over the bulblaxes who looked on in surprise. But the crew were in for a rough landing as the ground ahead of the worms was swarming with ravenous bulborb larvae, their fanged mouths salivating with new-born hunger. A few of them leapt at Blizzard and the other mounts, latching onto their legs and or tails earning yelps of pain from their teeth digging into their skin.

"You damn maggots! Quit trying to eat my kids!!" Luffy roared as he punched the larvae off the bulborbs, their fragile bodies splattering against his fists.

“It’s never-ending with these things!” Usopp cursed when he heard a familiar buzzing and screamed when he looked up to see another of the gangly-armed insects he’d encountered before. The sniper ducked as the bug swooped down, certain it would snatch him up, but nothing happened. Though his relief was cut short when another scream filled the air.

“AIKA!” Nami cried as the bug rose back into the air, holding Aika by the arms who kicked and struggled to get free.

“Put me down, you big ugly bug!” she screamed, but soon got her wish as the insect threw her back towards the earth only to be caught by Luffy who then seized the bug by its antenna.

“Nobody touches my sister!” he roared as he threw the insect behind them, where landed in the open mouth of one the pursuing bulbears.

“River!” Sanji pointed ahead as the group were approaching the stream Aika and Kumi had fallen in earlier.

“Please tell me these guys can swim!” Usopp pleaded as the bulborbs charged into the river, the water rising up to their underbellies. They groaned as they strained against the current but managed to stay afloat.

“Come on, kids, you can do it!” Luffy cheered them on as the bulborbs paddled through the river. When suddenly, a blubbering roar filled the air as one of the large purple fish-frogs sprang from the water and lunged at the crew, followed by several more.

“Dammit! It’s just one thing after another!” Zoro cursed slicing one in half as he along with Luffy and Sanji defended the crew from the aquatic attack before they eventually reached the other side of the river.

“Robin how much further is the cave?! We need to shake these things off!” Nami asked as the archaeologist pooled over the map.

“Not much further! The opening’s just up ahead!” she pointed as the large red oak came into view. She leapt down from the groink kart before rushing to the entrance. “Hurry! Everyone inside!” she pointed as the crew dismounted the bulborbs and ran through the opening, closely followed by the bulborbs who were just able to fit. Franky paused to release the gatling groink from its restraints.

“Go on, you’re free! Just get rid of those fat bastards back there.” he said to the cyborg fish which turned to start blasting the approaching bulbears with its mortar cannon.

XXX

Robin lead the crew through the darkened tunnels of the cave before she spotted the arrow carving which she tapped to reveal the hidden doorway.

“Blizzard, you stay here with the kids; they’re too big to fit through the door.” Luffy commanded.

“We’re smaller than you, Big Brother!” Aika barked, as did Kumi.

“He means the bulbors, Aika.” Nami specified as the Straw Hats followed Robin into the bunker while Blizzard turned to face the bulborbs.

“What’s up?” The crew looked around the secret bunker in awe as Robin began searching the bookshelf for anything that could tell them about the shrinking fruits.

“Wow, just look at all this stuff.” Usopp stared as he examined some of the odd contraptions and devices that lay about the room.

“And you said the owner of this bunker is from another world.” Franky checked as Robin nodded over her shoulder. “…Then that means, this place if full of super alien technology! We’ve hit the jackpot!” Luffy chuckled as he was looking at the pictures of Olimar and his companions.

“Shi-shi, look at their noses.” He pointed. “It’s like if someone inflated Usopp’s like a balloon.”

“Yeah, well the same goes for you, pal!” the sniper irked back amidst the laughs of some of the crew.

“Hey look at this!” Aika pointed at another picture which showed a swarm of pikmin. “Some of these pikmin are white and purple.” The others looked to see there were indeed two new types of pikmin they had yet to encounter; one was small and snowy white with big red eyes while the other variety was big and stocky with purple skin and six little hairs growing out of its head.

“Perhaps we’ll run into some on the island.” Robin wagered as she returned with her arms full of books. “Now then, I found a few more of Olimar’s journals as well as some by other members of his crew.”

“Ooh, check out this one, Sanji! It’s a cookbook!” Luffy tossed one of the journals to Sanji who read the title aloud.

“’Louie’s Cookbook to Cooking Kooky Critters?’” He muttered as he flicked through the pages rubbing his chin, intrigued. “Hey there’s a recipe for how to cook bulborb.” There was a cacophony of frightened squeals from outside the bunker showing that the bulborbs had like overheard the cook.

“Yeah I ate one raw after it tried to eat me.” Luffy snickered ignoring the disgusted and or frightened gazes he was getting. “But I bet they’re even tastier with the proper preparation.”

“I…think we’ll stay away from cooking bulborbs.” Sanji replied noting that the hatchlings were minutes away from fleeing.

“Hey how about this one?” Usopp picked up a green journal. “’Brittany’s Book of Botany.’”

“Perfect, Usopp.” Robin praised him as she opened the book and began searching. “Here!” She pointed to a random section as the others gathered round before she began to read it. “Myself and the rest of the crew were surprised to say the least by the discovery of this phenomenal fruit. After checking it for any poisons, Charlie volunteered to taste the fruit to verdict its flavour. A few hours later we found he had somehow shrunk to a fraction of his normal size. It appears this fruit contains a substance capable of shrinking those who consume it.”

“So we aren’t the first to have gone through this.” Zoro commented as Robin continued.

“After analysing the fruit’s makeup we discovered the shrinking effects of it were supposedly permanent-”

“PERMANENT?!!” the crew interrupted Robin in shock.

“I can’t wait that long! I’ll never be able to become Pirate King like this!” Luffy panicked.

“Never mind that! We can’t even leave the island like this! How would we sail the Sunny?!” Nami emphasised.

“Ahem!” the crew silenced themselves when they saw the archaeologist frown at them. “However, being the determined explorers we are, we refused to give up on restoring Charlie’s size. We searched the island analysing every plant there was to find a cure. Until after three months of harvesting and analysing, we were finally able to put together an antidote that returned our friend to his original state. The recipe is recorded in the table below.” Everyone looked to the bottom half of the page where they saw a chart displaying a list of ingredients.

                1 x 20 Pellet Posy pellet of any colour

                50g of Nectar Weed

                3 x Flukeweed stems

                1 x Wayward Moon

                1 x Golden Sunseed Berry

                1 x Dusk & Dawn Pustules

The crew looked over the recipe with mixed reactions over the strange names, partly due to the illustrations next to each ingredient.

“Dusk Pustules?” Sanji read the name with a hint of disgust. “Those look like grapes to me.”

“Yeah why would they call a melon Wayward Moon?” Aika wondered as Kumi barked in agrred confusion over the name of her favourite fruit.

“Remember, these explorers are aliens, so it’s only natural they wouldn’t name our fruit the same as we do.”

“Yet they write in the same language as us.” Usopp muttered.

“Well at least now we know what to get in order to grow big again!” Chopper clapped his hooves. “We just need to harvest those plants and I’ll whip us up an antidote in no time.” The little reindeer squeaked when the hungry roars of the local wildlife sounded outside. “But, uh, m-maybe in the morning.”

“Good idea, Chopper. It’s night after all.” Nami agreed. “Plus this bunker will make for a good base of operations until we’re big again.”

“It’s decided then. Starting tomorrow we find those ingredients and get big again!” Luffy declared before the crew settled down for what remained of the night.

XXX

The next morning the crew awoke to a strange sound coming from outside the bunker. Upon exiting the tree with the bulborbs in tow, they looked up to see the Pikmin’s Onion descending towards them. It hovered over the ground before it’s tripod legs extended and it landed gently. Moments later Rob the yellow Pikmin slid out down one of the legs, followed by a red, blue, pink and rock Pikmin.

“Guys! You’re back!” Chopper cheered as he went to greet them. “Are these ones your friends, Rob?” the yellow Pikmin nodded as they saluted the reindeer. “I guess they’re the leaders of their colours, like how you lead the other yellows?” the Pikmin nodded in response.

“Fascinating. It seems you Pikmin have organised your own command.” Robin commented. “And a good thing too because we’ll be needing your help for the tack at hand.” The Pikmin looked at the archaeologist as she showed them the journal.

“We’ve found a way to restore our height. But since this island’s so dangerous and the fact that you lot know it better than we do, we thought you could help us out in gathering the ingredients for the antidote.” The Pikmin looked at the page as they studied the pictures of the ingredients before nodding at Robin in understanding.

“Alright here’s the plan!” Luffy called. “We’ll split into teams and go gather one of the ingredients with either some pikmin or a bulborb with us.”

“Alright! In that case I’ll take the red Pikmin with me” Usopp declared as the red leader stepped up beside him. “Also, everyone take one of these.” The sniper held up a bunch of whistles. “Chopper mentioned they can be commanded with a whistle.” He said as he handed them out before blowing his own which summoned a bunch of red pikmin out of the Onion.

“In that case I’ll go with Rob and the yellows.” Chopper suggested.

“I better stick with Zoro. And if it’s alright with Luffy and Nami I’d like it if Fluffy could accompany us.” Robin asked as she pet the snowy Bulborb.

“Works for me. You be a good girl for your Aunt Robin and Uncle Zoro, ok Fluffy?” Luffy grinned.

“Don’t call me Uncle.” Zoro muttered as Fluffy went to join him and Robin.

“Perhaps the blue Pikmin should go with me.” Brook suggested. “Since they’re aquatic and I can run on water we could search the more flooded areas.”

“Good idea, Brook. And while you do that I’ll take some of the little rock dudes along with me.” Franky spoke up.

“Luffy, I’ll go with Aika and Kumi.” Blizzard said. “One of the bulborbs can come along too if it helps.” Luffy thought for a moment before replying.

“Ok, I trust you. Terry you go with them. Keep Aika and Kumi safe.” He said to the orange Bulborb. “Spot, Noodle, how about you go with Sanji?”

“Eh?! You’re just dumping your pets on me?!” Sanji spluttered.

“Aw don’t be like that. You’ll love ‘em.” Luffy grinned despite Sanji’s frown as the the two Bulborbs nuzzled him.

“Then I guess the winged Pikmin should tag along with us.” Nami looked to the remaining colour as they flocked to her and Luffy. “And everyone, make sure you get back before sundown and remember where the bunker is: the big red wood right here.” She pointed to the tree. Everyone else nodded in understanding.

“Then let’s go!” Luffy cheered before they split up. The search for the cure had begun.

To be continued…

Description

One Piece! The Wonders of Pikmin Island Chapter 6

The Straw Hats, along with the four tame bulborbs, huddled together as the darkness around their oversized campsite stirred with many nocturnal lifeforms, now waking up to begin their hunt for food, and with the Pikmin literally out of reach, the crew were now in seriously hot water.

"Um...Nami?" Usopp chuckled nervously. "Any leads?"

"Your guess is as good mine, Usopp. This island was hard enough to read when we were full grown. Now that we're this size I have no idea where to go with everything so gigantic." a deep growl heightened the navigator's fear before a bulborb, much bigger than the ones they'd hatched, emerged from the foliage. It had a light brown face and black abdomen with red spots, but instead of a pointed snout its face was flatter with thick lips. It sniffed the air before its gaze was drawn to Aika and Kumi who due to their small size gave them an appearance similar to Pikmin in the eyes of the creature (given how stupid and stomach driven it was) as it licked its lips and charged with a hungry roar. But even before Zoro could draw his blades Spot and Fluffy tackled the monster much to its shock of being struck by its own kin, as they bit and clawed at the attacker.

"YEAH! Get him, Spot! Show 'em who's boss, Fluffy! Daddy's so proud!" Luffy grinned as the monster let out a cry of anguish which echoed throughout the forest just as Spot delivered the final blow to its throat.

"Ah they're not so tough." Sanji smirked. "If even our new pets can handle one how much danger can we be in?"

"A lot." the others turned to Robin who was addressing Olimar's journal. "That was a Spotty Bulbear. They're much tougher than regular bulborbs and can even regain health like the Gatling Groink. Our Bulborbs only won in numbers."

"Yeah, so?" Zoro asked before more snarls reached the campsite as the crew looked in horror to see ten new bulbears approaching them.

"They travel in packs at night." Robin answered. "That one we just killed was a scout and it sent out a distress call. And this is only one of the many species that will be roaming the island right now for food."

"Then where are we supposed to go?!" Chopper worried as the bulbears were closing in on them forcing the young bulborbs back.

"Everyone get on a bulborb and follow me! I know a safe spot where we can hide!" Robin instructed as she mounted the groink kart along with Zoro and Franky. Luffy and Nami chose Spot while Sanji and Brook sat on Terry's back, Aika and Kumi rode Fluffy which left Usopp and Chopper with Noodle (Blizzard could keep up on his own) and not a moment too soon as the bulbears had begun to charge.

"Now run! Follow Robin!" Luffy ordered as the crew took off after her with the bulbears in hungry pursuit.

"I don't see why we can't stay and fight!" Zoro complained as he shot down one of them with a calibre phoenix.

"As I've said, this entire island is out for food, just like it was back on Strong World." Robin reminded him. "What's more we've been running around all day trying to find each other, we need to rest and come up with a plan to get big again."

"And we won't exactly be able to do that if we're constantly on alert for something trying to eat us!" Usopp added.

"Exactly. So for now, we retreat. There's a subterranean bunker not too far away. It's where I found these journals among other sources of information about this place including maps."

"Well that would certainly make things easier." Nami noted. "There might even be information on the fruits that shrunk us. Our best bet in finding a cure is there then. Leave it up to Robin to learn the lore of the land first." The raven haired woman smiled at her compliment but it soon fell when the ground ahead of them shook and cracked before five of the giant bulborb worms like the one Nami and Aika had encountered burst from the soil roaring in awakening.

"Empress Bulblaxes!" Robin identified them as the worms began to roll towards the group like a tumbling mound of fleshy logs. The bulborbs, Blizzard and the groink kart bent their knees and with an effortful grunt they leapt over the bulblaxes who looked on in surprise. But the crew were in for a rough landing as the ground ahead of the worms was swarming with ravenous bulborb larvae, their fanged mouths salivating with new-born hunger. A few of them leapt at Blizzard and the other mounts, latching onto their legs and or tails earning yelps of pain from their teeth digging into their skin.

"You damn maggots! Quit trying to eat my kids!!" Luffy roared as he punched the larvae off the bulborbs, their fragile bodies splattering against his fists.

“It’s never-ending with these things!” Usopp cursed when he heard a familiar buzzing and screamed when he looked up to see another of the gangly-armed insects he’d encountered before. The sniper ducked as the bug swooped down, certain it would snatch him up, but nothing happened. Though his relief was cut short when another scream filled the air.

“AIKA!” Nami cried as the bug rose back into the air, holding Aika by the arms who kicked and struggled to get free.

“Put me down, you big ugly bug!” she screamed, but soon got her wish as the insect threw her back towards the earth only to be caught by Luffy who then seized the bug by its antenna.

“Nobody touches my sister!” he roared as he threw the insect behind them, where landed in the open mouth of one the pursuing bulbears.

“River!” Sanji pointed ahead as the group were approaching the stream Aika and Kumi had fallen in earlier.

“Please tell me these guys can swim!” Usopp pleaded as the bulborbs charged into the river, the water rising up to their underbellies. They groaned as they strained against the current but managed to stay afloat.

“Come on, kids, you can do it!” Luffy cheered them on as the bulborbs paddled through the river. When suddenly, a blubbering roar filled the air as one of the large purple fish-frogs sprang from the water and lunged at the crew, followed by several more.

“Dammit! It’s just one thing after another!” Zoro cursed slicing one in half as he along with Luffy and Sanji defended the crew from the aquatic attack before they eventually reached the other side of the river.

“Robin how much further is the cave?! We need to shake these things off!” Nami asked as the archaeologist pooled over the map.

“Not much further! The opening’s just up ahead!” she pointed as the large red oak came into view. She leapt down from the groink kart before rushing to the entrance. “Hurry! Everyone inside!” she pointed as the crew dismounted the bulborbs and ran through the opening, closely followed by the bulborbs who were just able to fit. Franky paused to release the gatling groink from its restraints.

“Go on, you’re free! Just get rid of those fat bastards back there.” he said to the cyborg fish which turned to start blasting the approaching bulbears with its mortar cannon.

XXX

Robin lead the crew through the darkened tunnels of the cave before she spotted the arrow carving which she tapped to reveal the hidden doorway.

“Blizzard, you stay here with the kids; they’re too big to fit through the door.” Luffy commanded.

“We’re smaller than you, Big Brother!” Aika barked, as did Kumi.

“He means the bulbors, Aika.” Nami specified as the Straw Hats followed Robin into the bunker while Blizzard turned to face the bulborbs.

“What’s up?” The crew looked around the secret bunker in awe as Robin began searching the bookshelf for anything that could tell them about the shrinking fruits.

“Wow, just look at all this stuff.” Usopp stared as he examined some of the odd contraptions and devices that lay about the room.

“And you said the owner of this bunker is from another world.” Franky checked as Robin nodded over her shoulder. “…Then that means, this place if full of super alien technology! We’ve hit the jackpot!” Luffy chuckled as he was looking at the pictures of Olimar and his companions.

“Shi-shi, look at their noses.” He pointed. “It’s like if someone inflated Usopp’s like a balloon.”

“Yeah, well the same goes for you, pal!” the sniper irked back amidst the laughs of some of the crew.

“Hey look at this!” Aika pointed at another picture which showed a swarm of pikmin. “Some of these pikmin are white and purple.” The others looked to see there were indeed two new types of pikmin they had yet to encounter; one was small and snowy white with big red eyes while the other variety was big and stocky with purple skin and six little hairs growing out of its head.

“Perhaps we’ll run into some on the island.” Robin wagered as she returned with her arms full of books. “Now then, I found a few more of Olimar’s journals as well as some by other members of his crew.”

“Ooh, check out this one, Sanji! It’s a cookbook!” Luffy tossed one of the journals to Sanji who read the title aloud.

“’Louie’s Cookbook to Cooking Kooky Critters?’” He muttered as he flicked through the pages rubbing his chin, intrigued. “Hey there’s a recipe for how to cook bulborb.” There was a cacophony of frightened squeals from outside the bunker showing that the bulborbs had like overheard the cook.

“Yeah I ate one raw after it tried to eat me.” Luffy snickered ignoring the disgusted and or frightened gazes he was getting. “But I bet they’re even tastier with the proper preparation.”

“I…think we’ll stay away from cooking bulborbs.” Sanji replied noting that the hatchlings were minutes away from fleeing.

“Hey how about this one?” Usopp picked up a green journal. “’Brittany’s Book of Botany.’”

“Perfect, Usopp.” Robin praised him as she opened the book and began searching. “Here!” She pointed to a random section as the others gathered round before she began to read it. “Myself and the rest of the crew were surprised to say the least by the discovery of this phenomenal fruit. After checking it for any poisons, Charlie volunteered to taste the fruit to verdict its flavour. A few hours later we found he had somehow shrunk to a fraction of his normal size. It appears this fruit contains a substance capable of shrinking those who consume it.”

“So we aren’t the first to have gone through this.” Zoro commented as Robin continued.

“After analysing the fruit’s makeup we discovered the shrinking effects of it were supposedly permanent-”

“PERMANENT?!!” the crew interrupted Robin in shock.

“I can’t wait that long! I’ll never be able to become Pirate King like this!” Luffy panicked.

“Never mind that! We can’t even leave the island like this! How would we sail the Sunny?!” Nami emphasised.

“Ahem!” the crew silenced themselves when they saw the archaeologist frown at them. “However, being the determined explorers we are, we refused to give up on restoring Charlie’s size. We searched the island analysing every plant there was to find a cure. Until after three months of harvesting and analysing, we were finally able to put together an antidote that returned our friend to his original state. The recipe is recorded in the table below.” Everyone looked to the bottom half of the page where they saw a chart displaying a list of ingredients.

                1 x 20 Pellet Posy pellet of any colour

                50g of Nectar Weed

                3 x Flukeweed stems

                1 x Wayward Moon

                1 x Golden Sunseed Berry

                1 x Dusk & Dawn Pustules

The crew looked over the recipe with mixed reactions over the strange names, partly due to the illustrations next to each ingredient.

“Dusk Pustules?” Sanji read the name with a hint of disgust. “Those look like grapes to me.”

“Yeah why would they call a melon Wayward Moon?” Aika wondered as Kumi barked in agrred confusion over the name of her favourite fruit.

“Remember, these explorers are aliens, so it’s only natural they wouldn’t name our fruit the same as we do.”

“Yet they write in the same language as us.” Usopp muttered.

“Well at least now we know what to get in order to grow big again!” Chopper clapped his hooves. “We just need to harvest those plants and I’ll whip us up an antidote in no time.” The little reindeer squeaked when the hungry roars of the local wildlife sounded outside. “But, uh, m-maybe in the morning.”

“Good idea, Chopper. It’s night after all.” Nami agreed. “Plus this bunker will make for a good base of operations until we’re big again.”

“It’s decided then. Starting tomorrow we find those ingredients and get big again!” Luffy declared before the crew settled down for what remained of the night.

XXX

The next morning the crew awoke to a strange sound coming from outside the bunker. Upon exiting the tree with the bulborbs in tow, they looked up to see the Pikmin’s Onion descending towards them. It hovered over the ground before it’s tripod legs extended and it landed gently. Moments later Rob the yellow Pikmin slid out down one of the legs, followed by a red, blue, pink and rock Pikmin.

“Guys! You’re back!” Chopper cheered as he went to greet them. “Are these ones your friends, Rob?” the yellow Pikmin nodded as they saluted the reindeer. “I guess they’re the leaders of their colours, like how you lead the other yellows?” the Pikmin nodded in response.

“Fascinating. It seems you Pikmin have organised your own command.” Robin commented. “And a good thing too because we’ll be needing your help for the tack at hand.” The Pikmin looked at the archaeologist as she showed them the journal.

“We’ve found a way to restore our height. But since this island’s so dangerous and the fact that you lot know it better than we do, we thought you could help us out in gathering the ingredients for the antidote.” The Pikmin looked at the page as they studied the pictures of the ingredients before nodding at Robin in understanding.

“Alright here’s the plan!” Luffy called. “We’ll split into teams and go gather one of the ingredients with either some pikmin or a bulborb with us.”

“Alright! In that case I’ll take the red Pikmin with me” Usopp declared as the red leader stepped up beside him. “Also, everyone take one of these.” The sniper held up a bunch of whistles. “Chopper mentioned they can be commanded with a whistle.” He said as he handed them out before blowing his own which summoned a bunch of red pikmin out of the Onion.

“In that case I’ll go with Rob and the yellows.” Chopper suggested.

“I better stick with Zoro. And if it’s alright with Luffy and Nami I’d like it if Fluffy could accompany us.” Robin asked as she pet the snowy Bulborb.

“Works for me. You be a good girl for your Aunt Robin and Uncle Zoro, ok Fluffy?” Luffy grinned.

“Don’t call me Uncle.” Zoro muttered as Fluffy went to join him and Robin.

“Perhaps the blue Pikmin should go with me.” Brook suggested. “Since they’re aquatic and I can run on water we could search the more flooded areas.”

“Good idea, Brook. And while you do that I’ll take some of the little rock dudes along with me.” Franky spoke up.

“Luffy, I’ll go with Aika and Kumi.” Blizzard said. “One of the bulborbs can come along too if it helps.” Luffy thought for a moment before replying.

“Ok, I trust you. Terry you go with them. Keep Aika and Kumi safe.” He said to the orange Bulborb. “Spot, Noodle, how about you go with Sanji?”

“Eh?! You’re just dumping your pets on me?!” Sanji spluttered.

“Aw don’t be like that. You’ll love ‘em.” Luffy grinned despite Sanji’s frown as the the two Bulborbs nuzzled him.

“Then I guess the winged Pikmin should tag along with us.” Nami looked to the remaining colour as they flocked to her and Luffy. “And everyone, make sure you get back before sundown and remember where the bunker is: the big red wood right here.” She pointed to the tree. Everyone else nodded in understanding.

“Then let’s go!” Luffy cheered before they split up. The search for the cure had begun.

To be continued…