Long Water Dumple

The Long Water Dumple is a boss in. It resembles a Water Dumple, but much larger and longer, and with a distinct fin at the back, making it resemble an. It is the boss of the Verdant Waterfront, and since it is an aquatic creature, the fight takes place completely underwater. Once killed it will drop the Unexamined Nest or a Rainbow Sparklium Seed.

Behavior
The boss starts by swimming in the background, away from Olimar and his group. After it's done, it shows up on one side of the screen and stays there for some seconds, even if Olimar swims around. Eventually, it decides to lunge forward in an attempt to eat Pikmin or the captain. Normally, when it lunges, it swims by until it's off-camera and show up on the other side, where it fixes in location again, and repeats the cycle. When the creature swims past the group, it can be damaged, and if Pikmin are latching on to it, it will stay stuck taking damage. It will eventually spin away, knocking off all Pikmin latched on. If it hasn't taken enough damage to advance to the next phase, it will just show up again on that side of the screen and repeat the pattern.

If its health goes down to two thirds, it will make its way into the background, and instead of just swimming from one point to another, it will violently rub against the wall midway through, causing some boulders to fall down from the cave ceiling. These boulders always appear slightly above where Olimar is, but if he's already at the ceiling, they will come from the ceiling proper, signaled with some dust coming out of the points they'll fall from. If a Pikmin touches one, it won't die, but will be knocked away and become temporarily stunned. This doesn't break the boulder, but thrown Pikmin do. Olimar takes damage if he touches one, however, and it will break in this case. After this attack, the boss will peek from the edge of the screen and enter the standard cycle, except there's an extra attack between the lock-on and the lunge: it will spit out two volleys of two rocks each, with one rock angled a bit up and the other a bit down. These rocks have the exact same effects as the boulders.

When its health drops to the last third, it will once again swim to the background, rub against the wall, and cause boulders to fall down. This phase is identical to the previous one, except it spits three rocks inside of two, with the extra one going straight forward, and every lunge causes some more boulders to appear.

Locations

 * Verdant Waterfront
 * The Keeper of the Lake: The only Long Water Dumple in the game is inside the lake here. Like all other areas with bosses, its arena takes up nearly all of the level.

Strategy
When the creature first shows up on the side of the screen, keep swimming up or down. Once you see it shake, that's when it will lunge forward, so it's important that you're on the move when this happens, otherwise some Pikmin will get chomped. You can start moving only when you see it shake, but it's safer to start going up or down before it. Although the lake is very deep, be careful that you don't swim so often in one direction that you reach the boundaries and have to change direction in the middle of an attack. When the boss zooms by, start throwing Pikmin at its body. This will stop it in its tracks, making it easier for you to throw your entire army at it. It's easy to drop its health to two thirds right from the first time, but if you can't, just repeat the strategy so far.

At two thirds of health, it will go in the background and cause boulders to appear. These are very far apart, so pay attention to the top screen and stand in the center of them. If they become a threat as you move around, remember that you can throw Pikmin at them to destroy them, but be careful not to put yourself vulnerable to a different attack when you do this. The boss will also shoot two volleys of two rocks each. If you're leveled with the boss's mouth, both projectiles should miss you. Get ready to start moving up or down to dodge the lunge, and if any boulder is in the way, throw a Pikmin at it – be careful not to throw too many otherwise you'll end up standing still. Repeat your attack when the boss swims by.

At the last third, the boss will once again cause boulders to fall, and will start shooting three rocks instead of two. The extra rock will go straight forward, so get ready to throw a Pikmin at it when you have a clear shot. Once again, move away as quickly as you can. If more boulders fall from above, remember that you can throw Pikmin at them. When its health reaches zero, it will drop the Unexamined Nest.