Cleansing Apparatus

The Cleansing Apparatus is an automated cleaning device that sees smaller wildlife as mere specks to clean up.

=In fanon games=

In Pikmin 5: Apex Predator
The Cleansing Apparatus is a multipurpose cleaning robot that patrols the Palace of the Gods in Pikmin 5: Apex Predator. It has vacuumed up the final major group of castaways, and destroying it completes story mode. It can be found anywhere around the Palace, as it patrols constantly for dirt and grime. The fight against the Cleansing Apparatus will likely span multiple days due to its complexity and the Apparatus' sheer amount of health.

The fight begins as soon as the player gets close enough to its optical sensors on its front or starts attacking it from behind. The Cleansing Apparatus will activate its spinning brushes and will start moving in their direction for a short period of time. Then, the Apparatus will select a random module that determines the attack, either with a massive robotic arm that extends from its top or ejected from the Apparatus itself directly. These are:
 * Air conditioner: a fan with a refrigerant device to blow cool air, controlled by the arm. However, the refrigerant container is broken, making the fan shoot ice gas. It moves in a slow and predictable pattern, and below half health, the device will shoot snowballs as well.
 * Air freshener: a can of air freshener, controlled by the arm. As the machine is old, the robot arm starts sparking, and the sparks turn the air freshener into a makeshift flamethrower. It will move in a slow and predictable pattern, and below half health, the arm becomes unpredictable, occasionally firing in rapid bursts, creating fireballs that split into smaller ones upon hitting the ground.
 * Bug bomb: a bug bomb that shoots poison gas, deployed by the Apparatus directly. The bug bomb will spray three streams, and when the module is below half health, there will be four streams instead.
 * Mop solution: water drops to mop and sanitize the floor with, deployed by the Apparatus directly. The drops are evenly sized and predictable until the module is below half health, whereupon the Apparatus may not shoot water drops for a few seconds, and then fire massive water drops in quick bursts. Anything hit by these larger water drops will be thrown back a good distance, either separating the leader from the Pikmin or making it harder for the leader to rescue affected Pikmin.
 * Spinning brushes: brushes that extend out from the base of the Apparatus to suck up Pikmin. The player must attack the brushes from one joint above the brushes, and one joint under them. Getting sucked up will kill any non-Rock Pikmin, with Rock Pikmin being shot at the end of the attack dazed but otherwise fine. The brushes will stay on the floor normally, but below half health, they will raise up and slam down, causing shockwaves.

Distributed around the Apparatus' patrol route are points where the Apparatus will use its arm to replenish its supply of air freshener, mop solutions, and bug bombs, swapping an empty product out with a full one. Since it raises its arm so high, only Winged Pikmin will be able to attack it. Attacking and destroying the arm before any of the other modules is strongly recommended because doing so with severely hinder the Apparatus' offensive capabilities.

Each module, excluding the arm, has an immediate self-destruct sequence when disabled, killing all in the range of the blast except Orange Pikmin. Due to this, each module should be finished off with Orange Pikmin to avoid unneeded casualties. Upon disabling all of its modules, the Apparatus will open its backdoor component, through which the owner would normally have access to the machine's factory reset button. However, the button will be broken, though there will be an entrance inside. Within the Cleansing Apparatus is the central core that powers the machine. Its only attacks are producing electric currents, and shaking. Destroying the central core permanently disables the machine, thereby freeing the final group of castaways.

After freeing the castaways, a cutscene shows the final group thanking the player for saving them, and the player has the choice to either leave or stay on PNF-404. Leaving triggers the ending the player has earned, and staying has the group thank the player again for continuing to help the city.