Story Mode Walkthrough

A complete walkthrough for the story mode of Pikmin 3 for the Nintendo Switch. Learn all fruit that can be picked up from each area, as well as puzzle solutions and boss strategy! Clear your adventure without losing a single pikmin with our story walkthrough.

Story Mode Walkthrough

List of Days

Section Name	Basic Objective
Exploration Day 1	On the first day, there is no time limit, so you should take the time to understand how to control pikmin and use the KopPad. After red pikmin join your party, the adventure will go into full force. Red Pikmin Abilities and Location
Garden of Hope
Where's Brittany?	From the second day and onward, a time limit will be put in place each day, so search for Brittany while being mindful of the amount of time left. Befriending the rock pikmin will increase the scope of your exploration. Rock Pikmin Abilities and Location
The Captain's Signal?	After reuniting with Brittany, you'll use the mysterious signal to search for the Captain. Learn how to use the 'Go Here!' function of the map and work even more effeciently.
Defeat the Armored Mawdad!	Tracing the signal back to its source will trigger a battle between your part and the Armored Mawdad. Rock Pikmin are the key to this battle, so take several with you and head for battle. Armored Mawdad Boss Battle Guide
Distant Tundra
Reunite with Brittany!	Alph and Brittany are separated once again, so your job is to find a way to bring them back together. After the yellow pikmin join your party, you'll need to control both leaders and cooperate across opposite sides of the cliff. Yellow Pikmin Abilities and Location
Where's the Captain?	After successfully reuniting again, it's time to find the Captain. Make use of your new yellow pikmin to open up new areas, then recover fruit as you progress.
Defeat the Vehemoth Phosbat!	Tracing the source of the signal leads you to another battle, this time with the Vehemoth Phosbat. Use the yellow pikmin to turn on the lightbulbs in the cave and move carefully to take down this creature. Vehemoth Phosbat Boss Battle Guide
Tropical Wilds
Find the Cosmic-Drive Key!	After rescuing Captain Charlie, you'll be able to perform even more efficient work and reach new areas with your third leader. Defeat the Sandbelching Meerslug and recover the Cosmic-Drive Key. Sandbelching Meerslug Boss Battle Guide
Twilight River
To Twilight River!	After landing in this brand new area, the first thing you should do is have the winged pikmin join your party. Work your way through the area to save them, and then use them to remove the new obstacles found in this area. Winged Pikmin Abilities and Location
Save Olimar!	Adding the pink pikmin to your party allows you to explore new areas and do various other tasks. Make your way through the southwest part of the map and continue your journey to rescue Olimar.
Defeat the Scornet Maestro!	Defeating the Scornet Maestro will allow you to rescue Olimar. In this battle, winged pikmin play a huge role, so be sure and bring plenty of them. Scornet Maestro Boss Battle Guide
Garden of Hope (Revisited)
Follow Olimar!	The first thing you should do in the Garden of Hope is recover some fruit so you can survive a couple of days. Here you will gain access to blue pikmin, which can explore underwater areas, as well as recover objects there. Blue Pikmin Abilities and Location
Find the Hocotatian!	After securing some fruit, build the bridge and get to the source of the signal. You'll need to make heavy use of the newly acquired blue pikmin and explore several areas underwater that were previously inaccessible.
Save the Hocotatian!	Defeating the Quaggled Mireclops will allow you to save the Hocotatian that ran off with your juice (who, as it turns out, was not Captain Olimar). One of the tougher boss fights for sure, so its important to divide into teams and use the appropriate pikmin. Quaggled Mireclops Boss Battle Guide
Formidable Oak
Head to the Formidable Oak	The most important thing in the first day of this area is just expanding the area's paths to make it easier to explore. Take some of each pikmin type, save Olimar, and make your way through the level.
Find Captain Olimar!	You'll once again start at the same day as before, but by breaking the iron wall near the start with bomb rocks, you'll be able to move through the level more more quickly and easily.
Save Captain Olimar!	Your journey is coming to an end. The final objective is to defeat the Plasm Wraith and finally save Captain Olimar. You'll need the help of each type of pikmin to beat this boss. Plasm Wraith Boss Battle Guide

Side Story Walkthrough

The Side Story is a new set of missions unique to Pikmin 3 Deluxe. Click the link below to see a full walkthrough for the Side Story Missions!

Side Story Walkthrough: How to Unlock Side Stories

Story Mode Tips and Tricks

Divide work between leaders efficiently

In Pikmin 3, you'll gain control of three leaders: Alph, Brittany, and Charlie. By using the map and its 'Go Here!' feature, you'll be able to split into teams of pikmin for each leader, which lets you cover more ground and get more work done in less time.

As the story progresses, there will be more and more things to do in each area, so it's vital that you learn to manage your teams across the entire map.

Don't worry too much about completing everything in one day

In days where you had a lot of things to do, and you don't have time to recover thigns like boss remains and fruits, it's totally fine to leave them behind and come back the next day. Fruit and boss remains retain their locations, so leaving them behind to prioritize gathering any unattended pikmin back up is the smart call.

There are very few tasks that require completion during an exact day, so you should feel free to take your time to strategize, and recover fruit and other objects whenever you have a surplus of time left.

Collect fruit you see if you have extra time and spare pikmin

Technically, you do not have to recover every single fruit that you come across. For the first part of the game, you should spend a bit of time building up a reserve of juice, but after you have enough, you should be good for awhile, so you can primarily focus on progressing through the story, then go back to gather fruit after progressing further, or if your stock gets low again.

Even if you want to collect all fruit and obtain the best ending, some fruit will be unobtainable at first, so it's totally fine to leave some behind, and then come back to collect them toward the end of the story mode.

Fruit List | All Fruit Locations

Make sure to use the right type of pikmin for the job

As you progress through the game, the abilities of each Pikmin type will become very important. Red pikmin are flame resistant while blue pikmin can swim and fight underwater, and in this way, all pikmin have their uses for certain obstacles and enemies.

Pikmin Types | How to Get More Pikmin

Related Links

Pikmin 3 Deluxe Wiki Top Page

Pikmin 3 Links
Story	Fruit
Mission Mode	Side Stories
Maps	Enemies
Tips and Tricks	Bingo Battle
Characters	Pikmin Types