Saltwater Glade

Saltwater Glade is the first area of Pikmin: Spark and is succeeded by the Cavern of Cobwebs. The area takes place in a tropical area bordering a large body of saltwater hence the name of the area. The main boss of the area is the Fizzling Waddlepus with the Puffstool, Dashing Leekshell, Armored Cannon Beetle, Beady Long Legs, and Greater Sputtlefish appearing as minibosses. Being the first area it mainly teaches players how to play the game but also features many secrets and other areas that reward more explorative players.

Story
When Abel and Lyn crashed landed on PNF-404 they were separated with Abel tending to the XEL research pod in a futile attempt to repair it and Lyn being stranded in a small alcove. There she sees a colony of Red Pikmin struggle to collect a wrecked Onion in a pool of Water. After whistling them the Onion bounces all over the place before landing back down, but not before alerting a Red Bulborb. With her help, the Red Pikmin defeats the grub-dog and harvests it for seeds. As thanks, the Pikmin lead her to a cave holding a strange buried object which they dug up as thanks for their savior. Meanwhile, Abel signaled Lyn from behind a nearby wall asking to see if she is okay, which she was. Using the Pikmin they broke down the wall and reactivated the XEL research pod using Lyn's stowed away key. Suddenly the board android known as PIX (Planetary Incognito Explorer) was reactivated and panicked as they found the ship in shambles and panicked that if they don't feel the ship all of them will be stranded on the planet. However, the item the Pikmin collected was scanned by the XEL and suddenly it powered up once more, flabergasted PIX scanned that the item in question contains Sparklium. This material was being researched as a cure for the virus affecting Jiro but both Abel and Lyn were confused as they were never notified that a cure was already found. PIX corrects itself saying instead that sparklium could be used to distill a cure, but for now, they need it to fuel the ship to escape the planet. Night falls and the Onion trails behind the trio with the ship's scan finding out it is missing several key parts and needs to find replacements. The scan of the planet finds several potential replacement parts. So now the quest is to find parts to be able to fully repair the ship and distill the sparklium found into a potential cure. The first task is to find a GPS replacement to better pinpoint the locations of other parts. Scans determined such an item is located in the northmost area of the area, in the clutches of a group of waddlepi. This later leads to the discovery of Purple Pikmin in a cave via Violet Candypop Buds and Blue Pikmin found thriving in an offshore cover. After the defeat of the Fizzling Waddlepus the Engine Tracker is collected allowing access to the Cavern of Cobwebs.