Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets

Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets is a fanon game created by Steve Oak. Its timeline occurs after the happenings of Pikmin 2 and presents two new breakout characters, the space cadets Ollie and Nene.

Story
After rescuing his company, Olimar, along with Louie, is promoted to head chief of the space trainers. Under that condition, Olimar and Louie are bound to teach two students, Ollie (Olimar's apprentice) and Nene (Louie's apprentice). During space duty, one day, Olimar's rocket is hit by a meteorite and enters a deep freeze condition, until it lands on the surface of an unknown planet. Although Olimar and Louie had already visited this planet, the Pikplanet, they have no such memory of once coming here, since the deep freeze condition of Olimar's ship took one entire year of their life.

The four space cadets land in a strange land where Pikmin dance around one big giant tree, which looks sad. While trying to find a way out of that planet before his breakdown, which will occur as soon as the Tree of Life dies, Olimar and his team try to figure out the mystery of the tree, why its roots are all over the planet, and why Pikmin make such a hard effort to keep it from dying.

Areas
Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets bring a new exploration system. The Wastelands are part of the world, and the other ones are the areas. The "other other" are the caves inside that areas. That way, the game brings more areas and even more caves!

Dream Wastelands

 * Crash Site
 * Sunset Mountain
 * Flooded Galleria (Cave)
 * Pipe Plaza (Cave)
 * Moonlight River
 * Dark Moon (Cave)
 * Breezy Halls (Cave)
 * Losthorn Valley (Cave)
 * Deadlorn Fields

Water Wastelands

 * Drip Drop Cavern
 * Fortune Tunnel
 * Outsider Chasm
 * Sacred Den

Fire Wastelands

 * Riddle Ruins
 * Dried Cannyons
 * Foggy Swamp
 * Vulcan Realm

Grass Wastelands

 * Peaceful Meadows
 * Blackout Pit
 * Season Maze
 * Concealed Gardens

Earth Wastelands

 * Stormy Dunes
 * Frenzy Stairway
 * Infamous Marsh
 * Mystic Hall

Ice Wastelands

 * Frosty Ruins
 * Snowy Highway
 * Cozy Shrine
 * Silence Oasis

Ghost Wastelands

 * Haunted Hallway
 * Dark Forrest
 * Whistling Peak
 * Sealed Peak

Sand Waterlands

 * Sand Box Fortress
 * Fiery Sands
 * Skydive Winds
 * Rainbow Passage

Life Gardens

 * Great Shrine
 * Rainbow Temple

The fourth level of each set is only reachable with a key, found in the third level of that same set. It isn't mandatory that the player found the key and unlock the fourth and final level of the set since it's possible to unlock the next set just by ending the third level of every single set.

The only exception goes for the Life Gardens area. The only way to reach it is to find the key in set 8, level 3, so the player can unlock set 8, level 4, and, by this level, unlock the Life Gardens set (not set 9, but the set special). Like unlocking its area, to unlock the following levels, the player must complete a series of tasks. Rainbow Temple is the last and final level unlocked in this game.

Captain Olimar
Captain Olimar is the main playable character in Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets. He's short and has a squeaky head and a large nose. Olimar is the main discoverer of the Pikmin, which leader was also brought to life by Louie. Olimar is an all-round player with all the Pikmin and has no good and bad bonds with any Pikmin. Olimar is playable since the very first level.

Captain Louie
Louie is the second main playable character in Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets. He's short, just like Olimar, and has a scary persona. Louie's good bonds are with the White, Black, and Big Pikmin, and Louie's bad bonds are with the special Pikmin (Fire Pikmin, Stone Pikmin, Ice Pikmin, and Ghost Pikmin)

Ollie
Ollie is Olimar's apprentice in Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets. He's taller than Olimar and has a brave spirit. Secretly, he's in love with Nene, but she doesn't know. Ollie's good bonds are with the special Pikmin (Fire Pikmin, Stone Pikmin, Ice Pikmin, and Ghost Pikmin) and he has no bad bonds.

Nene
Nene is Louie's apprentice in Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets. She's the same size as Louie, has curly brown hair, and wears big thick red glasses. She has a secret background story that will be presented in a spin-off game to Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets. Nene's good bonds are with the Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple, and Rock Pikmin. Her only bad bonds are with the Black and White Pikmin.

The President
Although The President's appearance in this game is brief, his only cameo is at the end of the game, where Olimar just finds out that The President has gone on his own adventure looking for Pikmin and treasure. His partner is a special, until now secret Pikmin. His story is to be presented in a spin-off game to Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets. Much of his background story is unknown but promised to be discovered in the upcoming Pikmin Stories: New Dungeons.

Dark Louie
The Dark Louie, as it's name sounds like, isn't an antagonist character in the game. Dark Louie is the physical representation of Louie's subconscious. It extrapolates its own emotions, like, Dark Louie is always pumped and fierce, something that scares Louie. Although its appearance is nothing more than a cameo, Dark Louie always appears along with Louie, however, nobody can see it. Dark Louie is only Louie's imagination.

Returning Pikmin

 * Red Pikmin (Found first in The Crashing Site and the most popular Pikmin in the game)
 * Yellow Pikmin (Found first in Sunset Mountain and the second popular Pikmin in the game)
 * Blue Pikmin (Found first in Moonlight River and the third most popular Pikmin in the game)
 * Purple Pikmin (Found first in Drip Drop Cavern)
 * White Pikmin (Found first in Peaceful Meadows)

New Pikmin

 * Rock Pikmin: first found in Fortune Tunnels. It's a big, gray-black Pikmin that is even heavier than the Purple Pikmin, which are worth 10. Rock Pikmin, here, are worth 20. One of its Pikmin Skills is to create camouflage. Its body looks like a rock, so it can dodge confrontations with wildlife. When in larger groups, the Rock Pikmin can camouflage other groups of Pikmin.
 * Big Pikmin: first found in Mystic Hall. It's a huge, fatty Pikmin. It's the slower Pikmin of all, but have greater battle power and although can't swim, large groups of Big Pikmin can create bridges over the water for Pikmin species that don't swim to go thru.
 * Black Pikmin: the third and last type of new Pikmin in the game. It is only available in the Life Gardens area and can only grow there. Its true abilities are unknown, but back in Hocotate, they say that the Black Pikmin work when they're master isn't looking. What can be their special ability?

Special Pikmin
The Special Pikmin are new types of Pikmin only found in specific areas. They can only act and be grown in that specific areas, for simple laws of physics. You can never grow an Ice Pikmin in the Fire Wastelands areas, so, it'll die.
 * Fire Pikmin: only available in the Fire Wastelands. Like the Red Pikmin, they're all-around but can use of their Pikmin Skills to create a little fire. Along with other Fire Pikmin, they can create bigger fires and even set an enemy on fire.
 * Stone Pikmin: only available in the Earth Wastelands. They are heavier than usual Pikmin and are the only Pikmin capable of enduring sandstorms. They are usually the only ones capable of reaching a goal of a certain level.
 * Ice Pikmin: only available in the Ice Wastelands. They're lighter than usual, and smaller than regular Pikmin, being able to reach areas by small holes or tunnels. They can create camouflage for some Pikmin and are the only usable Pikmin in areas with too much snow.
 * Ghost Pikmin: only available in the Ghost Wastelands. The Ghost Pikmin are born of dead Pikmin, which souls return to become Ghost Pikmin. In some levels of Ghost Wastelands, it is mandatory to make Pikmin suicide soo they'll create the Ghost Pikmin. Between its abilities, it's to enter dungeons that are locked inside of paintings.
 * Sand Pikmin: only available in the Sand Wastelands. Their bodies are made of sand, which makes them easier to disband. Sand Pikmin can become part of the environment, and use the environment to their advantage, by using sand in the ground to create a giant Sand Pikmin.
 * Rainbow Pikmin: the undefeatable species in the game. There is only one Rainbow Pikmin in the entire game, and they can only be gotten when the player has fully completed the game. This means collecting all upgrades, trophies, and treasures, and defeating all enemies. Also, having explored every single inch in every area. The Rainbow Pikmin have the abilities of all Pikmin and can use the Rainbow Dash.

Modes
Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets come with a difficulty meter before the player have started the game. The difficulties change enemy amounts, health, speed, and intelligence. Also, games with higher difficulty have more chances of Pikmin growing, treasures found, and trophy collectibles.

The difficulties go to Baby, Easy, Normal, Medium, Hard, Super Hard, Extreme, Insane, Piktastic.

The Piktastic (ninth difficulty level) is only unlockable after the player beats the game for the first time. It is barely impossible to beat it, and there are several changes in the gameplay that makes it even harder to beat.

Battle
Two players can battle in Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets. The Battle Mode has been upgraded and renewed for a more suitable play. The new modes are:

Territory Wars
Two players have to wander around the Battlefield reaching colored flags. If they carry the same Pikmin Color as the flag, that becomes their territory. The player who collect all the ten flags before the other is the winner.

Pikmin Hunters
Two players have a time limit to find several Pikmin in the field. According to the rules, Rainbow Pikmin are worth 10 points. If the player finds a Yellow Pikmin, for example, they can use that Pikmin's power to explore areas only reachable with a Yellow Pikmin in your team. After five minutes, the player with the most Pikmin is the winner. If there's a tie, the first player to find the next Pikmin becomes the winner.

Louie's Playroom
The Louie's Playroom is a pack of several minigames containing the Pikmin background. The minigames can be unlocked by following the Story Mode or purchased with money traded for treasures.

Battle Stages
At the beginning of the game, only one stage is open, the Battlefield, a regular stage. The player can unlock lots of other Battle Stages, which are also downloadable content, that is upgraded with five new stages for the month.
 * Battlefield (Unlocked since the start)
 * Sunshine Parlor (Unlocked after beating the game for the first time)
 * Red Mountains (Unlocked when the player reaches 999 Red Pikmin stored)
 * Yellow Sea (Unlocked when the player reaches 999 Yellow Pikmin stored)
 * Blue Sky Fleet (Unlocked when the player reaches 999 Blue Pikmin stored)
 * Louie's Mansion (Unlocked when the player beat the game in Baby difficulty)
 * Wooden Totem Cave (Unlocked when the player beat the game on Easy difficulty)
 * Milkway Galaxy (Unlocked when the player beat the game in Normal difficulty)
 * Stormy Airship (Unlocked when the player beat the game in Medium difficulty)
 * Techno Woods (Unlocked when the player beat the game in Hard difficulty)
 * Purple Dome (Unlocked when the player beat the game in Super Hard difficulty)
 * White Skies (Unlocked when the player beat the game in Extreme difficulty)
 * Rainbow Palace (Unlocked when the player beat the game in Insane difficulty)
 * Hocotate Deserts (Unlocked when the player beat the game in Piktastic difficulty)

Challenge Mode
Like in all Pikmin games, this game features the Challenge Mode. It is unlocked when the player first beats the game. There are newcomer areas in the Challenge Mode, but its main objective is to replay the already played levels, but during nighttime.

During the nighttime, several features of the level are changed, such as the enemies, and the area itself. Also, playing Challenge Mode comes with missions that award the player Trophies only acquired by playing the Challenge Mode.

Pikmin Charts
See Pikmin Stories: Space Cadets/Pikmin charts