Black Flower Garden

A Lot Harder Than the White One
You don't need Yellow Pikmin to reach this cave in the Desert Oasis but you won't stand a chance once inside the dungeon if you didn't find them in the Highland Field. This is your deepest dungeon yet, and in order to find it, head south of the watering hole and journey through the cacti patches. Don't get lost, and you'll find the entrance to this place in what looks like the remains of a crumbling stone sanctuary. It's a tougher, more mind-bending dungeon than others you've encountered and you'll need to think thoroughly about how to proceed as well as battle it out with tougher foes than those you've met before. All Pikmin types will be necessary to discover the awesome new Black Pikmin here. You'll also have to learn about how to interact with Solid Liquid- an essential skill to defeating this dungeon's boss.

Floor 1

 * Golden Candypop Bud x 3
 * Shearwig x 4
 * Treasure x 1

The floor slopes downwards, straight ahead up to an impassable cliff. You're at the bottom of this place. It's like the hallway suddenly went up way too quickly. At the bottom of the wall, where you are now, you'll have to fight a small squad of Shearwigs. Once they're out of the picture, you should be able to figure out the way up fairly quickly. There's a pair of weight related scales here. One is in a corner and the other is close to the wall. The one close to the wall is lowered, and this is the way it should be for the moment. Have Olimar stand on top of it with at least 10 Yellow Pikmin. Then switch to Louie and toss Pikmin on top of the other scale to press it down, bringing Olimar high up- the scale is actually extremely tall! Once it peaks out, toss those Yellow Pikmin over the last part of the wall. They'll land on a short switch. When ten of them weigh it down, there'll suddenly be a large rumbling and the entire wall will collapse into pieces, and the scales will break, making the entire floor nothing more than a straight hallway into a room with a trio of Golden Candypop Buds with a treasure in the center. Take it, and then go down to the passageway to the next floor you found in that room.

Floor 2

 * Bulbmin x 1
 * Dwarf Bulbear x 5
 * Ivory Candypop Bud x 1
 * Solid Liquid x 1
 * Conduit x 3
 * Gas Pipe x 3
 * Key x 1
 * Treasure x 1

This is a two-chambered floor with three alcoves at the end of each chamber. You're in the middle of the first chamber, and in the other chamber is a curious new creature called a Bulbmin. If you brought less than 100 Pikmin into this dungeon, it'll have up to 10 small Bulbmin following behind it depending on how many out of a 100 you're missing. By pummeling the leader with Purple Pikmin it'll easily be defeated. Then, whistle the Bulbmin to your side. They follow you throughout the dungeon, but won't leave it with you. For this reason, you'll want to transform five of them into White Pikmin by using the Candypop Bud in one of the alcoves here. The Bulbmin will have dropped a Key to the next floor, so take it in. But you don't want to leave yet! The key also dropped a huge bubble into the second room. It's a sphere of "Solid Liquid", a strange phenomenon that can't kill Pikmin, but it knocks them backwards if they hit it. However, if you throw Purple Pikmin at it, it will turn purple and can be defeated after taking a number of hits. It only stays purple for a short time before becoming bubbly again though. After it pops, it'll release a treasure it was hiding.

Floor 3

 * Bumbling Snitchbug x 2
 * Male Sheargrub x 7
 * Shearwig x 4
 * Fire Vent x 8
 * Key x 1
 * Treasure x 1

A large room where everything seems to be open and accessible- until you get your bearings. This room is filled with much water, which is dangerous to all your Pikmin right now. You'll have to walk across the dry spots carefully to reach the treasure and haul it back. But the Key is in the water, and without it there seems to be no way down to the next floor! Luckily, the Bulbmin you picked up can resist all elements, and water is one of those elements. Pick up the key and bring it back, and be wary of burrowing bugs that'll undoubtedly be guarding the dry stretches of land. They can't swim, so luring them into the water is an effective way to damage them.

Floor 4

 * Shady Candypop Bud x 3
 * Web x 1
 * Treasure x 1

You'll land in a patch of black flowers. Without delay, use them to obtain Black Pikmin! They have numerous abilities which will aid you throughout your adventures in this cave and the rest of your journey. For starters, you'll learn that they are unaffected by sticky coatings. There's a large web wrapped around the area, and while other Pikmin will get tangled up in it and attempt to struggle out, Black Pikmin will latch on and smoothly remove the webs. Once they're cut away, you'll notice the way down as well as a treasure encased in webs. Black Pikmin will set it free, and then you can continue onwards.

Floor 5

 * Bulbmin x 1
 * Dwarf Bulbear x 5
 * Watery Blowhog x 4
 * Solid Liquid x 3
 * Gas Pipe x 6
 * Oil x 1
 * Web x 1
 * Treasure x 2

This room's a mess! Not only are there tangles of web amid gas pipes, but there's a strange substance settled on various parts of the floor. This is oil- it's a sticky, dark substance that gets Pikmin all clogged up. That's the last thing you need if you plan to fight the enemies here successfully. Luckily, your Black Pikmin walk on it like normal floor, and if they are dismissed with X they'll quickly siphon the sap away, cleaning the immediate area. This is also good for Black Pikmin because they will sometimes get flowers by siphoning up oil. There's another Bulbmin leader here, and you'll need the help of its underlings on the next floor- so defeat it and get them to join your party. There's more Solid Liquid here, and one of the bubbles of it will release a treasure when it is popped. Another treasure is caught up in webs hanging overhead. It's not too high and you can throw Black Pikmin up there to let it down. You might also notice that Black Pikmin hold onto enemies longer instead of being shaken off. This makes them a good choice for battles, but don't always rely on this ability.

Floor 6

 * Ivory Candypop Bud x 2
 * Male Sheargrub x 14
 * Withering Blowhog x 3
 * Bomb-Rock x 9
 * Drain x 1
 * Web x 1
 * Treasure x 2

This floor seems similar to the third- which means that you'll somehow have to deal with the water here. This time, there's a considerably heavy treasure sitting in the water. You can't pull it out with just Bulbmin. And, there are Bomb-Rocks aplenty. First off, make it your goal to go solo and set them all off by yourself, eliminating the threat. Oddly enough, the webs seem to be on your side this time around- many of the webs are stretched over the watery areas, meaning you can walk over the water without going in. The webs are held in place by a growth of sorts somewhere in the room. If you want to solve this floor's problems you'll need to cut those webs loose. This is best done by splitting up the party and having one pilot use Black Pikmin to sever the source of the webs. Once this is done, all the webs in the room will crumple and fall into the water. Now use your Bulbmin to enter the water. Search for a rock formation, and have them break it apart. This turns out to be a drain which gets rid of all of the room's water- as well as an opening to the next floor! However, now that the room is dry you'll get sheargrubs popping up all over the place. Form a main group and take them all out until you're sure the room is secure. Lastly, there's a high ledge in this room where a treasure is positioned. Simply throw up some Yellow Pikmin to bring it down. Make sure you also grab the other treasure which was resting in the water. Your Bulbmin have done their best, so turn them into White Pikmin here so they can help you on the next floor.

Floor 7

 * Bumbling Snitchbug x 1
 * Dwarf Bulbear x 9
 * Solid Liquid x 5
 * Violet Candypop Bud x 2
 * Volatile Dweevil x 3
 * Conduit x 5
 * Jump Geyser x 4
 * Key x 1
 * Treasure x 1

This place almost looks like a cavernous ski slope, but without the ice. It's merely a remarkable natural formation formed by the running water in this room. Fortunately, the water flows past your pod on both sides, giving you breathing room. The way down is right behind you, but there's a treasure here that'll take a bit of thinking to claim. First off, you may notice that the jump geysers from the first Pikmin game have made a welcome return! These harmless geysers will give your pilot a boost through the air to a set location, allowing them to scale ledges and cross gaps. Second, it looks like there's a wooden plank standing in the water to the left of the pod. It's a very skinny piece of wood but appears to be connected to a pulley set across the left wall of the room. A switch that can activate it through weight is set on the right side of your pod. For starters, throw Black Pikmin onto the wooden plank. They'll hold onto it until they are called off, as Black Pikmin are capable of sticking to normally non-sticky surfaces! Now prepare one pilot to run a gauntlet while the other has a couple Pikmin weigh down the pressure switch. It'll start the pulley moving, pulling the wooden plank up the flow with the Black Pikmin on it. To follow them to where they'll land, one pilot will have to run up an obstacle course to reach the dock. It's straightforwards enough, just jump up using jump geysers when they are present, and make sure to jump when the conduits aren't shocking- otherwise you'll get hit in midair and have to do it again. In addition, there are Dwarf Bulbears on the way up and Volatile Dweevils as well. Step carefully around any globs of Solid Liquid you may find. As a final insult there's a Bumbling Snitchbug which could ruin you if you don't dodge its attack. Once you are at the top of the hill, call down the Black Pikmin from the plank (which was pulled up on the pulley to a safe dock) and have them push the switch here. It'll make a number of things happen. Firstly, the water will dry up. Secondly, a Key will pop out of the ground in front of you. Lastly, you won't even have to worry about getting back through obstacle course because your Pikmin will smartly take the Key over the side. After you claim the Key a final bit of Solid Liquid will drop from above. Break it to get the treasure. Now that's taken care of, go past the way to the final floor and you'll find a sandy shore where you can make more Purple Pikmin, essential to defeating the boss that awaits you!

Floor 8 (Final Floor)

 * Waterwraith BOSS
 * Treasure x 1

Finally! You'll land in a circular arena. There's a safe alcove with the geyser in the corner, so put all non-Purple Pikmin there. Go to the center of the arena, and in the center you'll meet the mighty Waterwraith. This enemy is made out of Solid Liquid and can easily run over your whole army, but all it takes are a few tosses of Purple Pikmin to keep it stunned and steadily damage it. Unlike its counterpart in other games though, the Waterwraith is a little trickier this time. It will sometimes rear back and launch its front roller at you, so if you see it lean back, get away from its front. Once it loses 50% HP it will split into two- one for each roller it uses. The two of them will move slowly and clumsily but can still be dangerous! Don't let any of them take you by surprise. The two Waterwraith copies will try and run you over like before, but now instead of throwing a roller at you they'll sometimes hop off of their roller, pick it up and swing it around to knock Pikmin over. They'll swing the roller from side to side and then do an overhead slam like a hammer that can squash Pikmin. Once you defeat a Waterwraith copy it'll split into two smaller ones, and each will take half of a roller. Now they are very slow and not too bright but there are enough of them to keep you occupied! Destroy each of them individually but keep the others stunned that way they don't attack while you concentrate on one of them. These are a pain because their special ability is to hop off of their rollers and push the roller at you hoping that it does some damage. After they push it away, they'll attempt to run back to it to get on top of it. This is when they are most open to attack. Once all 4 mini-waterwraiths are defeated, the last one will drop a treasure: a Franklin Badge from the MOTHER series! With this treasure your pilots are invulnerable to electric shocks! Now you've finished the dungeon at last.

Wildlife

 * Bulbmin
 * Bumbling Snitchbug
 * Dwarf Bulbear
 * Golden Candypop Bud
 * Ivory Candypop Bud
 * Male Sheargrub
 * Shady Candypop Bud
 * Shearwig
 * Violet Candypop Bud
 * Volatile Dweevil
 * Watery Blowhog
 * Withering Blowhog
 * Waterwraith BOSS

Portal- Kombat  *Sysop*