Pikmin/The Final Trial

This is the final area of the game. There is only one part to get here and it's optional, so just by making to this far you're guaranteed to escape the planet at the ending of the game. Unless you're already skilled at the game, in which case you don't need to read this guide, we recommend setting aside two days for this region. This means you will need to do the previous 29 parts in 28 days, in other words average more than one part per day in the rest of the game. Use one day to get past the barriers leading to the final boss, and the second to actually fight the boss. Not only will having a full day make the boss battle easier, but you will appreciate having a save just beforehand in case everything goes pear-shaped.

Getting to the boss
There are candypop buds of all three colors near the ship in case you need to shuffle your colors before starting. Draw about 60 Blues and set half to work an the bridge just north of the ship. Continue north around a wall and put the rest to work on another bridge; this one is on a ledge so you have to throw the Blues just right for them to start working on it.

While they are working, draw at least 3 Yellows and throw them to the small island to the right of the first bridge. Lead them across the island and then throw them to the ledge north of it. Use one of the steam vents to reach the ledge yourself, then throw the Yellows to the next ledge up where they will find a supply of bomb-rocks. After they've collected them, call them and throw them back to the island. Gather them, making sure to touch, not call them after being thrown, and lead them back across the island. Throw them back to the mainland and gather them again. By this time the first bridge should be done, so take the Yellows across and knock down the solid wall between the two bridges; this takes three bomb-rocks.

Leave these Pikmin and draw at least 10 Reds. There is a bridge on the left with lots of fire jets on it. Throw the Reds, then call them while standing on the right to lead them across. Continue under the second bridge leading the Reds along the wall next to it until they reach a cardboard box. Release the Reds so they will discover the box and start moving it out of the way.

You now have a clear passage at the other end of the second bridge. There is a lattice wall here, so gather the Pikmin you have in the field and put them to work on it; it should be down almost immediately. This opens up a kind of arena with something green in the middle. Carefully avoiding the green thing since it's actually the boss, cross to the other side of the arena and work on the lattice wall there. With that done there's really nothing else to do here before the battle, so you might as well just head back to the ship and call it a day. If you have extra time you might want to explore the area beyond the area to locate the resources there; there are several places where you can get bomb-rocks and a patch of grass so you can get yellow nectar.

Secret Safe
It's finally time to take on the final boss and get the last part of the ship. Have at least 15 Yellows and 200 Reds on hand. Take 15 Yellows and 85 Reds to start, the remaining 115 Reds are for replacements.

Before starting the actual battle, take all the Pikmin to the grassy area on the far side of the arena and deposit them just outside the gate. Crossing the bridges can be tricky with 100 Pikmin in tow, so you might want to split up your party for this leg, Leave the Reds just outside the gaten, then take the Yellows and have them grab bomb-rocks at one of the three pipes in this area. Leave the Yellows close to the gate but far enough away that they won't get called when you get the Reds.

Bulblax has two attacks, both of which are devastating unless handled correctly. Its primary attack is to simply lick up any Pikmin that happen to be in front of him, and given the size of its mouth it can swallow a huge number at once. You can tell when it's about to do this because it will start to drool, so be sure to keep your Pikmin out of reach when he does this. Its secondary attack, used more often when it's low on health, is to jump into the air and land wherever there is a concentration of Pikmin. Keep moving around to dodge this attack.

Pick up a single Yellow with a bomb. Just touch one to do this and if you happen to get more than one toss the extras to one side so you can pick them up later. Step into the arena and touch the green feelers to wake up the boss.

Draw the beast's attention so that it's facing the gate and wait for it to start salivating. Release (do not throw) the Yellow in front of the monster so it will be licked up. Then, while the Yellow is busy sacrificing itself for the greater good, go back and call the Reds into the arena. When Bulblax swallows the bomb it will explode and knock the monster down for a bit. While the creature is stunned, start throwing Pikmin on top of it as fast as you can. Make sure not to stand too close or the Pikmin will bounce off Bulblax's face. After a few seconds the monster will recover and shake off the Pikmin; call them and lead them to safety outside the gate. Pick up another Yellow with a bomb and start the process over again. If done well you should be able to take off 20-25% of the monster's health per cycle. Less is still acceptable but you may run into the time limit if you don't get a few good cycles in.

As an alternative, you might try throwing the bomb-Pikmin when the monster is not salivating. The Pikmin may be able to throw the bomb in the monster's face and stun it without sacrificing itself. This saves time if Bulblax doesn't seem to be hungry, but it gives you less time to collect the Reds for attack. Also, it may happen that bomb may miss or the monster may be out of range, in which case it's likely that your Yellow will be stomped on for no reason.

Another alternative is to throw Pikmin at the side of the monster's face while it's licking the ground. You may be able to get attacks in more quickly, especially toward the end of the battle, but the attacks won't be as effective.

If your Pikmin numbers fall below 20 then go back to the onion for reinforcements. Barring accidental bomb-rock detonations you shouldn't run out of Yellows. Time is the real enemy here, so the fewer times you have to go back for reinforcements the better.

When the monster is finally defeated, it drops some food pellets and the final part, the Secret Save. The food pellets make no difference to the outcome of the game, but presumably if the Pikmin carry them back to their onions they will give a small boost to you final Pikmin number in the final score. You do have to have the Pikmin take the part back to the ship and the day can an will end with it still on the way if you run out of time.