Dark Mountain Cave

The Third Dark Spore
Perhaps you noticed that there was one more cave to finish off in the Mountain Springs. You won't be able to reach it without Green Pikmin, which you should be able to locate on the way to the Quicksand Temple in the Ancient Wetland. Once you have discovered all Pikmin types, make your way through the acid-stained shores to reach the blocked-up spring. Break it loose and the warm, cleansing water will wash away the acid and clear the way for your Pikmin troops to reach the third of the Dark Caves at the end of the area. This is the first cave which threatens you with every element, so you need mixed forces. Puzzles are not necessarily tougher here, just the battles. In this way, it's more like a classic Pikmin 2 dungeon. The boss fight on the final floor is all about strength and force as well.

Floor 1

 * Dwarf Bulbear x 20
 * Fiery Bulblax (Fall) x 1
 * Rocket Beetle x 10
 * Falling Rock x 14
 * Key x 1
 * Treasure x 1

The dungeon gets off to a rocky start with a room full of... you guessed it, rocks. There are enemies scattered here and there, but notably you want to be on the lookout for sudden-death jerks like the falling rocks and Rocket Beetles, which are a new enemy in PSI. At one of the points where falling rocks may drop, there is a chance that a very unwelcome Fiery Bulblax will drop down instead, so spray it and use your Red Pikmin to teach it a lesson. It will cough up the treasure. In order to find the way down to the next floor, look for the boulders positioned on high points around this room. Roll them off the hills using Purple Pikmin (make sure others are out of harm's way first) and they will roll into sockets in the middle of the room. Once all three boulders are in place, they will weigh down the mechanism and cause the Key to the next floor to appear.

Floor 2

 * Chemical Chrysanthemum x 2
 * Dwarf Bulbear x 18
 * Solid Liquid x 2
 * Territorial Breadbug x 3
 * Acid Pool x 3
 * Gas Pipe x 12
 * Oil Spill x 2
 * Treasure x 1

All kinds of harmful toxic things here which take a number of Pikmin types to counteract. There are chambers and narrow corridors here. The chambers typically have a few enemies located in them, whereas the corridors are just lined with hazards. It's a maze of sorts, in other words. The Breadbugs here don't play around- they go right for your Pikmin. Defeat them so they don't give you trouble. Be very careful of the powerful new Chemical Chrysanthemums which lurk in the chambers throughout the maze- they have a variety of attacks that will make you think carefully about which Pikmin types to use. The bottom line is that you'll need Black Pikmin to get past the oil halls, White Pikmin to get past the gas halls, and Green Pikmin to get past the acid halls. The very last hallway which leads to a dead end with the treasure (hidden in a Territorial Breadbug's nest) is blocked by Solid Liquid that Purple Pikmin can disperse.

Floor 3

 * Fiery Bulblax x 3
 * Lighter Shearwig x 15
 * Solid Liquid x 2
 * Wollywog x 4
 * Bomb-Rock (Fall) x 10
 * Falling Rock x 6
 * Fire Vent x 24
 * Treasure x 2

There is a natural sauna of sorts down here. It's very dim and steamy, and there is a dangerous combination of fire and water about. Wollywogs lurk in the water, and there are Fiery Bulblaxes to contend with on dry land. One of the treasures is located inside a bubble of Solid Liquid, but it is problematically located inside water where Purple Pikmin will be in grave danger. Here, you need to screw with the physics of the game a bit to succeed. There is a Wollywog located right by that Solid Liquid bubble. By luring the Wollywog into jumping on the Solid Liquid, it will cause the bubble to be dribbled upwards. At this point, there will be a short window of time when a captain can get underneath the bubble and it will send the bubble bouncing in the air above you. If you walk in a certain direction, you can keep bouncing the solid liquid off your helmet. Walk until you can get to a dry part of the area and then burst the Solid Liquid with your Purple Pikmin to claim the treasure. The other treasure is held by a Fiery Bulblax that slumbers on an island far across the water. Unfortunately, it can't quite be lured to the water to be extinguished, but once again there is a way around this dilemma. There is another bubble of Solid Liquid nearby, so lure the Fiery Bulblax to it and it will be extinguished for a brief second. Petrify the enemy before it can move out of the bubble and then toss Blue Pikmin on the part of the Bulblax that isn't shielded by the bubble. Once both treasures are yours, continue to the dungeon's next floor.

Floor 4

 * Dwarf Bulbear x 15
 * Bulborb Larva x ???
 * Lighter Shearwig x 12
 * Purple Bulborb x 1
 * Conduit x 9
 * Treasure x 1

There are two chambers to this floor. The first one is a rather nasty but wide area filled with Dwarf Bulbears and Lighter Shearwigs. There are scattered puddles and conduits around here, so it's generally an unhelpful mix of obstacles. Ideally, you will act precisely and use each correct Pikmin to get rid of each problem. You'll need all that stuff out of the way for when you bring back the treasure. The treasure is held by the sleeping enemy in the other chamber, the Purple Bulborb. This new enemy is strong enough to be considered a mini-boss-ish type of opponent for how durable it is. Try and use your normal bulborb-fighting techniques against it, but consider using sprays to help out. Take care of any Bulborb Larva that it summons during the battle. The way down to the next floor is here, so leave after the treasure is yours.

Floor 5

 * Queen Candypop Bud x 2
 * Shady Candypop Bud x 2
 * Web x 5
 * Treasure x 1

This rest stop is a fantastic place to add on to your Black Pikmin numbers. The webs do unfortunately make it a bit of a hassle to navigate. However, don't just get rid of them recklessly- climb up them slowly with one captain and find your way to a raised ledge against a wall. Once you're up there, have the other captain toss some Yellow Pikmin your way. There is a treasure up here, blocked by a web. Now's the time to cut away that web by having the other captain use Black Pikmin to attack the web from the ground. After the treasure is yours, use the Candypop Buds (unless you have enough Black Pikmin already) and either escape using the geyser or continue through the rest of the dungeon.

Floor 6

 * Gatling Groink x 2
 * Lighter Shearwig x 15
 * Rocket Beetle x 20
 * Bomb-Rock x 25
 * Fire Vent x 10
 * Oil Spill x 1
 * Treasure x 2

This place is a war zone, and it will only get worse the longer you spend in it. The enemies here, as well as the Bomb-Rocks all have qualities that will quickly agitate the Oil Spill and turn it into an inescapable death trap for any Pikmin that gets caught in it. First off, seek one of the groinks and dispatch it to find one of the floor's treasures. The other treasure is in a rather obnoxious location given the way this floor is shaped. Basically, it takes place in a really big room that has two raised plateaus across from each other with a big oily puddle in the middle of them. There is a ramp that leads right up to the top of the plateau where the treasure is buried, but you can't get White Pikmin up there due to the oil in the way. Plus, that puddle's going to ignite sooner or later anyway. First off, take a captain through there and have them wait on the treasure plateau so that captains won't be blocked from entering at a later point once it lights up. Now take your other captain and go up the other ramp on the empty plateau. Fortunately, this ramp is not blocked by the oil. From this plateau, run and toss a few White Pikmin over the flaming/oily depths below and hope they make it to the plateau with the treasure. From there, your previously-placed captain can command them to dig up and retrieve the treasure.

Floor 7

 * Bulborb Larva x 200
 * Gatling Groink x 1
 * Shearant x 10
 * Gas Pipe x 15
 * Treasure x 2

This floor is very bad news. Basically, there are two sections of it you should take note of: the raised part of the sublevel you start off on, and a lower part of the sublevel that you can reach just by falling a short distance. But you don't want to go down to that part of the sublevel because it is literally crawling with Bulborb Larva everywhere you go. There is a Gatling Groink that wanders around that lower part of the sublevel, and as you may have guessed it holds one of the floor's treasures. In order to safely get the treasure, you should first proceed with a single pilot and lure the Groink out of the lower area up onto the larva-free upper area. Then you can defeat it without worrying about the larva. Otherwise, you have to jump down into the low section and have an extremely reckless battle to get the treasure. The other treasure is in a circular chamber that can be found if you follow one of the raised paths. In it, the treasure is partially buried but can be uncovered by any Pikmin type. The problem is that it is surrounded by a few Shearants. They'll put up a bit of a fight if you don't attack with lots of strength and speed. Make sure to disable any gas pipes that block the way back to the ship.

Floor 8

 * Chemical Chrysanthemum x 1
 * Shearant x 15
 * Oil Spill x 1
 * Treasure x 1

This floor is rather straightforwards. There is a small chamber you start off in with the way down to the next floor right next to the pod. The other chamber is covered in a big puddle of oil. There are Shearants milling around in the oil, as well as a Chemical Chrysanthemum which holds the treasure. Unfortunately, your Black Pikmin are weak to both of the creature's elemental attacks, making for a very inconvenient battle. Eliminate the Shearants first and then go after the big enemy to save yourself a lot of trouble.

Floor 9

 * Emperor Bulblax x 1
 * Leafy Candypop Bud x 2
 * Acid Pool x 8
 * Key x 1
 * Treasure x 1

Oh. Not good! There's an Emperor Bulblax here, and it will be very difficult to defeat without Green Pikmin thanks to the acid haphazardly scattered about the place. If you are very, very slick with how you navigate your Pikmin, it is possible to bring down this opponent with Pikmin of other colors. It is necessary to defeat this monster to progress because it releases a Key to the next floor. The treasure, incidentally, is buried right where you woke the boss up. Use White Pikmin to dig it up and then continue to the final floor.

Floor 10 (Final Floor)

 * Empress Bulblax BOSS
 * Bulborb Larva x ???
 * Falling Rock x ???
 * Treasure x 1

The boss here is no stranger to the Pikmin series but has a few distinct differences in this game. For one, it can sustain even more damage in battle. It is also accompanied by many more Bulborb Larvae. The boss attacks by rolling back and forth after being woken up, which causes boulders to drop from above. Move your Pikmin out of the way of the shadows, and call them back to make sure the boss doesn't roll over them. To make matters worse, the boss can now make Bulborb Larvae appear en masse through two different strategies. First off, it may turn the end of its body around to face your group and then shoot a few Bulborb Larvae in your direction. Secondly, it may stop moving in order to roar upwards. This causes Bulborb Larvae to burrow out from the ground all over the place. After lots of damage has been taken, the boss will discharge MANY more larvae with its shooting attack, and it seems that more boulders drop when it rolls around as well. Once the boss is defeated, take care of any remaining larvae before transporting the treasure back to the pod and taking the geyser out of here.

Wildlife

 * Bulborb Larva
 * Chemical Chrysanthemum
 * Dwarf Bulbear
 * Emperor Bulblax
 * Fiery Bulblax
 * Gatling Groink
 * Leafy Candypop Bud
 * Lighter Shearwig
 * Purple Bulborb
 * Queen Candypop Bud
 * Rocket Beetle
 * Shady Candypop Bud
 * Shearant
 * Territorial Breadbug
 * Wollywog
 * Empress Bulblax BOSS