Ranging Bloyster

The Ranging Bloyster is a boss that resembles a large Toady Bloyster, and is likely named for its longer mouthparts or increased travel range. These creatures have an affinity for shiny objects and will track the active leader's light beacon, making them impossible to approach unnoticed from behind.

Olimar's notes

 * "This species of mollusk has shed its shell through the process of evolution. What appears as a flower-shaped protrusion on its back actually functions as its gills. The ranging bloyster ensnares small animals with its sticky tentacles, reels them in, and consumes them. Observers have noted that this creature exhibits a keen interest in flashing objects. It often tries to capture and ingest these objects. Researchers and explorers equipped with flashing identification beacons should be wary when in close proximity to this dangerous predator."

Louie's notes

 * "The gills are best prepared deep-fried in an herb and bread-crumb batter. Also tasty poached and drenched with fine soy sauce."

=In fanon games=

In Pikmin: The After Years
In Pikmin: The After Years, the gill-like organs of a Ranging Bloyster will yield thirty Pikmin seeds, and the creature will sometimes drop a 20-pellet upon death.

In Pikmin: Redemption
Ranging Bloysters in Pikmin: Redemption are commonly seen and they sometimes come in pairs. Luckily, defeating them is easier than in.

In Pikmin: Wide World
The Ranging Bloyster is a large mollusking that appears only underground in Pikmin: Wide World, and is the sane-acting counterpart of the Deranging Bloyster. Although they physically highly resemble the Toady Bloyster, Ranging Bloysters behave much differently, although with minor similarities. A Ranging Bloyster is often found alone, on dry land or in a body of water of any depth, slowly exploring a rather large territory. Its tail occasionally gently sways or twitches. It has very little interest in Pikmin and Captmin generally ignoring their presence unless they stand in front of it for a few moments. This will prompt the Ranging Bloyster to unleash an aggravated bovine sound before lashing out its long, slender, branching tongue in an attempt to eat them. When in the presence of a glowing entity or object, such as a leader's beacon, however, a Ranging Bloyster will excitedly creep towards it at an alarming pace and attempt to consume it if it is small enough and can reach them. During this, its eyes light up and match the color of its target's glow, and the creature emanates a variety of bizarre vocalizations that depend on what its target is. If the Ranging Bloyster is unable to consume a glowing target, it closely inspects it before groaning and permanently losing interest in it. Should a Ranging Bloyster grab a hold of a leader with its tongue, it will chew upon them, swallow them, and then forcefully regurgitate them, inflicting damage while chewing and spitting them out. As it swallows leaders alongside any Pikmin caught on its tongue, Pikmin cannot be saved unless the creature dies before it can eat them. Because of its physiology, leaders, Pikmin, and some enemies can walk up onto a Ranging Bloyster's back from behind it, although lingering there for too long will cause the creature to quite violently shake them off. It will do this instantly should something glowing be on its back.

Compared to the Toady Bloyster, the Ranging Bloyster is much larger in size and has a higher hump, much longer eyestalks, and a relatively smaller tail and tail-bulb. It is a pink, sluglike creature with a plant-like tail at its backside terminating in a tail-bulb that contains the creature's gills. Each Ranging Bloyster has unique, static, purple markings covering its pink body, which taper to an edge. Its mouth is extremely large and contains a single, large, slender, blue tongue that branches out into six tongues. Its tail is primarily green in color, featuring yellow details, and at the tip are three equidistant leaf-like appendages that form a triangle shape. The spherical gill-bulb at the end of its tail is light beige in color, and speckled and wrinkled in appearance. Its small eyes are mounted on long eyestalks, which have red rims. Its eyes change color depending on whether it is idle, alert, or tracking a target: they are black when neutral, white when alert, red when tracking Captain Olimar, purple when tracking Shacho, orange when tracking Marie, blue when tracking Louie, and for miscellaneous targets, whichever color the target glows. When alert or tracking targets, the eyes of a Ranging Bloyster glow the same color as they are. If a Ranging Bloyster loses sight of a target or interest in it, its eyes will dim to black unless it can find another target before then. Unlike in, the Ranging Bloyster's tail-bulb does not change color whatsoever, whether the creature is tracking targets or dead.

Ranging Bloysters are rather ignorant of mostly anything around them, save for glowing objects such as the beacons of leaders. A Ranging Bloyster will chase after the target closest to it in its field of view, meaning teamwork between two or more leaders is almost required to defeat the creature with little to no Pikmin casualties. Unlike in Pikmin 2, a Ranging Bloyster does not pursue only the leader currently being played as, and can instantly change between targets, both meaning rapidly switching between leaders can not be abused to quickly defeat the creature. As is the case with the Toady Bloyster, a Ranging Bloyster's most vulnerable part is its tail, although its body can be attacked for much less damage. Purple Pikmin can be made to pound on a Ranging Bloyster's back to inflict major damage, however. Its tail-bulb and body can be punched by leaders, and throwing Pikmin onto its tail-bulb is not necessary as Pikmin instinctively know to jump up at or onto it. The Ranging Bloyster defends itself from attackers not with ink, but by violently shaking them off of itself, flinging them everywhere around itself in the process. Upon death, a Ranging Bloyster will let out a long, agonized groan before stiffening up and shrinking dramatically, its body adopting a dried and shriveled appearance, and yield. At this point, it can be carried by its tail-bulb to the Lander Pod to gain either or thirty Pikmin seeds of any chosen discovered main Pikmin type from the Master Onion, but only if the cave is exited using an escape geyser. Also after its defeat, a Ranging Bloyster will cough up any creatures it had ingested alongside anything else it had swallowed.

Olimar's notes

 * "For unknown reasons, the ranging bloyster possesses an affinity for glowing objects so keen that it drives the creature to ingest them. This can prove dangerous for explorers equipped with light-emitting devices as nearby specimens will be obsessively drawn to them and attempt to devour them. The ranging bloyster seems to largely disregard any nearby lifeforms, unless, of course, they glow, although they will be at the mercy of the creature's branching, flailing tongue if they linger in front of it for some moments."

Shacho's notes

 * "I don't dare let this beast be anywhere near Hocotate Freight grounds."

Marie's notes

 * "Ranging bloysters would make for decent pets if it was not for their size and unrivaled obsession with glowing objects, which would spell disaster for cities on Hocotate. Of course, because of their poor eyesight and normally low brain activity, anyone standing before it too long would be considered food. Fun fact: a ranging bloyster's brain activity skyrockets dramatically when it sees a glowing object, and returns to normal levels upon ingesting it or it disappearing."

Louie's notes

 * "Its tail-bulb is difficult to puncture and cut open, but the spongy meat within possesses a uniquely sweet flavor but bitter scent."

Dolphin Lander's notes

 * "Nobody else has asked this question, so I will: since ranging bloysters are so fond of glowing objects or creatures, how come they don't eat their own eyes? Their eyes do glow while they are chasing after something that glows, after all. Perhaps it's kind of a dumb question, but I must know!"

In Pikspore
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The Ranging Bloyster is the boss of Concealed Aquatica, and it is later fought in Spectral Garden and Ultimate Arena.

Ship's log

 * "All that is left of this slimy carnivorous slug is a flower-like breathing apparatus. I can live with that, I guess..."