Pikmin 5: Apex Predator

Pikmin 5: Apex Predator is a fanon game created by Green Crawbster. What makes this game unique is the presence of very large creatures, named apex predators, some the same size as or bigger than the Quaggled Mireclops. The game also features a difficulty system.

Plot
Decades have passed since the events of. The castaways and people from other planets have begun colonizing PNF-404 with minimal disruption. But one day...

The story begins with the player being woken up from their bed as they need to attend their final exams. As they get out of bed, the player is taught basic captain controls. Once they walk into the final exam area, a teacher explains that to become full cadets, they need to prove their mastery of Pikmin skills in a test. The player is a junior cadet in cadet school on a PNF-404 settlement. The player is given all of the types of Pikmin and is given a proper tutorial on how to use the different Pikmin and what each one has immunities to. They can select the easy, medium, or hard exam, which serves as difficulty selection and gives the player a basic idea of what each difficulty is like. Difficulties can be changed in this tutorial if the player is unsatisfied and wants to try another one. Each difficulty should be carefully considered because it can not be changed after completing the tutorial. Upon completing the exam difficulty of their choice, the player has passed the final exams. The teacher prepares to press a button to set off fireworks at the graduation ceremony to a massive earthquake. One student comments that the fireworks were incredibly loud, but the teacher comments that they never pressed the button. A massive shadow overtakes the sky to the panicked screams of everyone and the screen fades to black.

Immediately, the player is moved to a character customization screen to set the player they will be using for the whole game. Upon finishing customization, the story continues. The character works for emergency rescue services, visiting the city of Olimar after hearing of a major catastrophe there. The city serves as the main hub and was founded by and named after Olimar himself, with his family having moved there to be with him. Buildings are destroyed and people are missing. The main goal is to rescue the people and raise funds to rebuild the city by selling treasures encountered in the wild. A gray-haired Olimar is the mayor of his namesake city, and he explains the situation to the player in his office. The city is in ruins and he is concerned that the citizens of Olimar have taken shelter in the Underground Bunker, the cave under the city. The player's task is to take an emergency crew and explore the cave to rescue the people. At the end of the explanation, Olimar opens the emergency vault in his office, containing a Red Onion occupied by 100 Red Pikmin. Then, the player enters the Underground Bunker. Upon completing the Underground Bunker and rescuing the citizens, Rhea, a member of the rescue crew talks with Olimar, asking him if he knows what could have caused so much destruction. Olimar's educated guess is that an aggressive male of some kind from the Lover's Garden. It is a common mating ground for the fauna of the planet which makes males of all species very aggressive as they are competing for females. Thus, the first location of the game is open, and the character visits to look for the aggressive male. As the story progresses, more buildings in the city and repaired or built, and in the city's center lies a statue of Captain Olimar, and the Rescue Crew's ship.

At the Lover's Garden, the rescue crew starts collecting DNA samples of all of the creatures to see what most closely resembles the DNA left by the beast. In addition, the Blue and Purple Onions are reunited with the central Red Onion. Once the player reaches the Purple Onion, they encounter a paper bag requiring the weight of 500 Pikmin to compress. The player starts propagating Purple Pikmin, inadvertently increasing the trigger number of the whole squad. Once the player generates enough Purple Pikmin to weigh down the obstruction, the Pauperesque Squallard lands, fights the player, and leaves after devouring a massive amount of Pikmin. The beast is so massive that it easily crushes the paper bag under its weight, implying the creature is heavier than 500 Pikmin. The day immediately ends as everyone is left in abject horror as to what they saw, and they regroup that night to plan what to do. The rescue crew starts talking to the higher-ups about borrowing artillery or space lasers in an online meeting, but the meeting is joined by an unknown person with a black screen. They turn their camera on and it shows that many people are crowded in a single room. They are at the top of a giant sand structure and are fine, but the situation has become urgent as a bunch of enemies run into their structure after a giant beast lands. They are scared one of the beasts will find them, and they desperately need the rescue crew's help. It means they can not wait for the heavy weaponry and need to find the people as soon as possible. Still, the group needs to find a way to make sure the massive beast does not arrive again. Olimar thinks for a bit and connects the massive amounts of Purple Pikmin present and the beast, coming up with the trigger and stomach numbers. The player is then told they can go back on the beach, but can not have too many Purples in their squadron or the massive beast will attack. They are sent back to the field. Upon returning, the player finds the Ice Box, a cave, and uses the wild Ice Pikmin within to free the Ice Onion from the frozen ground. After this, the player encounters the sand structure with a moat. The newfound Ice Pikmin freeze the water to get the player over the moat and they enter the sand structure. Upon rescuing the castaways, the castaway who sent the original message, Zeke, tells the player they managed to connect to another major group of castaways in the Windy Wild, opening the second world.

Upon entering the Windy Wilds, Zeke establishes contact with the major group he found. He asks the group on the other side to show any unique landmarks to help the rescue crew, but their screen is dark. Making a sarcastic remark about how helpful that was, Zeke tells the player that the best they can do is to look for a cave. Upon seeing the aboveground cave, the player enters its pitch-black interior, passing an electrode circuit. There is no map, so the player has no reference point for anything. The player hears a massive creature moving around for a while. Eventually, the grotesque sound of mouth movement is heard, and Pikmin start declining in numbers. The player leaves and Rhea suggests they try to find a Pikmin that could help in the cave. Then, the player finds the caves and Onions of the Winged, White, and Yellow Pikmin in that order. Upon finding the Yellow Pikmin, the player returns to the aboveground cave and activates the electrode circuit so light finally enters the cave. The player goes through the cave while being pursued by the Cavedweller Tokek, turning electrode circuits on to keep the Tokek at bay. Eventually, the player reaches the end of the cave and activates three major lights, revealing the whole room to be a disco stage. The Tokek has been able to evade the player the whole time by changing its skin color to its surroundings, but there will be too many colors at once to hide. Upon killing the Tokek, it spits out the Titanic Toolbox and dies, allowing the second major group of castaways to be found and saved. Upon saving this group, a connection is made to the third major group in the Ice Blanket, unlocking that world.

Entering the Ice Blanket, the player finds the Rock and Orange Onions, completing the Onion set. From this point on, the player is free to choose whatever dungeons they want in all previously unlocked worlds. Eventually, the player finds the third group, terrorized by a colony of Rotund Exsanguinates. Killing the colony frees the third major group of castaways, and reveals the final group of hidden refugees in the Palace of the Gods.

Inside the Palace of the Gods, Zeke locates the final hidden group of castaways in the Cleansing Apparatus, a massive robot that patrols the mansion. Once the player is ready, they fight the Apparatus and free the final group of castaways, ending story mode. At this point, the player's main objective has been completed, allowing them to end the game at any point as they now have closure. Pressing forward is harder but provides a better ending, stopping is easier but has a worse ending.

Upon defeating the Apparatus, the Collapsing Kingdom is unlocked. One of the caves has the beast that terrorized the city of Olimar, causing the mess in the first place. After defeating it in its cave, it flees to The Determinant, unlocking it.

The Determinant is the final world and true home of the beast. It is recommended that the player complete all other worlds to unlock all gear, as The Determinant will throw the worst of the worst against the player.

Endings
There are four endings from worst to best, depending on how much progress the player has made before deciding to leave PNF-404 with the rescue crew.
 * Treating Symptoms: acquired from completing less than 50% of the story when leaving. The narration explains that the rescue crew's strategy did a nice job fixing the disaster, but spent no time focusing on what caused it. Because of this, they are pretty much guaranteed to have to come back in the future.
 * A Quick Breather: acquired from completing more than 50% of the story but under 100%, without defeating the beast for good. The narration explains that the player's efforts have definitely put a dent in the beast's efforts to terrorize the city. However, it will eventually be able to lick its wounds and attack again. The city will have to rebuild quickly so it can be ready for the beast's next attack.
 * Generational Challenge: acquired from completing more than 50% of the story but under 100%, including defeating the beast for good. The narration explains that the player's efforts have majorly wounded the ability of the creatures to attack the city, but have not entirely eliminated them. Though the people of the city of Olimar will no longer have to worry about the creatures, their children and future generations will have to, as enemies could eventually become organized again over time.
 * 100%: acquired from completing 100% of the story. The narration explains that due to the efforts of the player and the Pikmin, the threat of apex predators has been virtually eradicated. The narration explains how the player and the citizens of Olimar City have taken this massive and daunting challenge head-on so their children and their children's children will never have to worry about these monstrous beasts. The city will develop plaques in the player honor, and will long remember their heroic deeds.

=Content=

Pikmin
All nine Pikmin types from return, plus the new addition of Orange Pikmin.
 * Red Pikmin
 * Yellow Pikmin
 * Blue Pikmin
 * Purple Pikmin
 * White Pikmin
 * Rock Pikmin
 * Winged Pikmin
 * Ice Pikmin
 * Green Pikmin
 * Orange Pikmin have orange skin and orange petals, and appear to have molten shells on their backs. They move at 0.8x the speed of an average Pikmin due to their heavy shells. Orange Pikmin are immune to explosions, as they dig their heavy shells into the ground to absorb the resulting shockwaves. They can take non-Orange Pikmin and wrap them in their arms, using their shells to shield them as well and prevent those Pikmin from dying in an explosion.

Areas
Areas are listed in order of discovery.
 * 1) Lover's Garden: a giant garden with every habitat and almost every enemy. The player character visits this area to search for the aggressive male creature that destroyed Olimar City in its hormone-induced rage. The Blue, Purple, and Ice Onions are located here, and given that many smaller enemies and Pellet Posies are also found here, it is recommended to come here to replenish Pikmin populations. The season represented by Lover's Garden is Spring.
 * 2) Windy Wild: a wide, flat area that contains mountains, outdoor caves, trees, and geysers. The Yellow, White, and Winged Onions are here. The season it represents is Summer.
 * 3) Ice Blanket: a snowy wonderland that is half-aboveground and half-underground. The Rock and Orange Onions are here. The season it represents is Winter.
 * 4) Palace of the Gods: a massive mansion with all sorts of areas to explore. No seasons are represented as it is indoors.
 * 5) Collapsing Kingdom: a dying world where creatures are desperately trying to eat or store enough food to make it through the Winter. Enemies are especially dangerous here because of this. It represents Autumn.
 * 6) The Determinant: the final world where the beast that destroyed the city of Olimar lies. This world determines what the real apex predator is, and what lives there with its express permission.

Caves
Caves are found in all areas and contain most of the needed treasures.
 * City of Olimar
 * Underground Bunker
 * Lover's Garden
 * Spawning Grounds
 * Giant's Gymnasium
 * Ice Box
 * Ice Blanket
 * Bombroot Garden

Buildings
Buildings are previously destroyed structures in Olimar City that are rebuilt and even repurposed as the story progresses and more building treasures are claimed. Buildings sell goods that can be of major help if they are used.
 * Louie's Grub & Hub: can turn collected beasts into tasty goods. It requires the Bakery Oven, eaten by the Pauperesque Squallard in Lover's Spring.
 * Alena's Auto Shop: can create certain devices and upgrade others like the Bot of Burden. It requires the Titanic Toolbox, eaten by the Cavedweller Tokek in Windy Wild.
 * Master Botanist's Lab: with enough Burgeoning Spiderwort Berries and corpses to make into optimal soil, a Burgeoning Spiderwort plant can be planted and tended to by the botanists in the lab. They will harvest berries to make sprays during the day without you needing to help. Extra slots for plants can be built with enough Pokos. It requires the Botany Equipment, a series of machines and scientific gear stored in the Deep Navel ceiling by a Rotund Exsanguinate in the Ice Blanket.

Weather
Weather plays a large role in Pikmin 5: Apex Predator. Though rain was the only weather condition in, weather in this game will often change the terrain, and the day's plans will have to be adjusted accordingly.
 * Sunny no weather effects. Default weather until entering the Windy Wild, where weather begins.
 * Wind blows Pikmin around at higher altitudes relative to the area and causes some enemies, particularly Skitter Leaves and later Desiccated Skitter Leaves, to be blown around as well. The leaves and seeds of plants can also blow around on windy days, helping or hurting depending on the vegetation. There is a small chance for fire starters, carriable by Red Pikmin, to appear in aboveground areas.
 * Rain creates puddles and streams where it falls most. Places near trees are particularly dangerous, as the raindrops that collect on their leaves before falling are much larger than ordinary raindrops. Land-faring enemies are packed more tightly as they move inland, and aquatic enemies are more loosely spread out as their territories expand.
 * Cold snap: ice enemies leave their habitats and enter the normal enemy area where applicable, and non-ice enemies move more slowly. Burrow traps decrease in the Ice Blanket, and water drops in aboveground caves decrease.
 * Heatwave: fire enemies leave their habitats and enter the normal enemy area where applicable, and non-fire enemies move more quickly. Burrow traps increase in the Ice Blanket, and water drops in aboveground caves increase. Small chance for Ferocious Firewood leaf piles to spontaneously combust.