Awakening Wood

The Awakening Wood is the second area in, set in a grassy garden. It contains four caves, and seven overground treasures worth a total of in the US version and the Nintendo Switch version,  in the European version, and  in the Japanese version. It is unlocked by retrieving the Spherical Atlas from the Emergence Cave in the Valley of Repose. Both White and Blue Pikmin are first discovered here. Its terrain is based on The Forest of Hope from.

The Awakening Wood has many Pellet Posies and easy-to-defeat enemies, such as Female Sheargrubs and Dwarf Bulborbs. Harvesting these pellets and creatures is an excellent way to increase the Pikmin population, especially if one is trying to recover from a Pikmin extinction. More Pellet Posies will appear after the tenth day, growing very large pellets, including the game's only 20-pellet.

Overview
The area is Spring-themed, with grassy terrain, cherry blossoms and objects and features that might be found in a garden; the great number of Pellet Posies make it arguably the best place to produce Pikmin. These features, along with its layout, make the Awakening Wood very similar to The Forest of Hope from the original Pikmin. In fact, it is The Forest of Hope, as Olimar states that he explored this forest before, in his journal entry for the Geographic Projection, but has now renamed it due to how much it changed.

Layout
The ship and the Onions land in the southwestern portion of the map. To the west of the landing site is an open area containing a single Red Bulborb and some Dwarf Red Bulborbs. Near the puddle of water in this area is a small flower pot that is home to an Iridescent Glint Beetle. To the south of the landing site is a small area that contains several flower pots and a small natural ramp that leads to the top of the pots. This area has numerous Pellet Posies as well as several benign Female Sheargrubs and a Burgeoning Spiderwort that only appears after the eleventh day.

The rest of the map is accessible from two locations – one is a central area that contains a pair of Burgeoning Spiderworts that, once a black bramble gate is torn down, opens to the western (which is guarded by a Creeping Chrysanthemum), eastern, and northern portions of the map. The other is over a small bridge that must be constructed which leads directly to the western portion of the map. The western region of the map is linear like a corridor and stretches from the north to the south. On the northernmost side of this corridor portion is the entrance to the Hole of Beasts. Following the path to the south leads to a moderately sized pond with pairs of Yellow Wollyhops and bridges that can be built.

The southwestern portion of the map is at a higher ground level and, as such, can only be accessed by traveling through the western passage. It contains a Burrowing Snagret and the Snagret Hole inside of a tree trunk behind a white bramble gate. A few Pellet Posies, including one that yields a twenty-Pikmin pellet, grow on this region. The northeastern portion of the map is where the White Flower Garden lies and can be accessed after deflating a bag. Near the White Flower Garden behind an electric gate is a circular area that houses the Blue Onion and numerous Pellet Posies and Wolpoles. Traveling deeper through the northeastern portion, after taking down a poisoned bramble gate, yields access to the a portion of the map to the northeast of the landing site, after using a weighted seesaw block. This area contains a single purple Burgeoning Spiderwort and a small tree stump that leads to the Bulblax Kingdom's entrance, which is blocked by an electric gate. This area can also be accessed after destroying a black bramble gate in a tiny puddle to the north of the landing site. This puddle can be drained.

Caves

 * Hole of Beasts
 * White Flower Garden
 * Bulblax Kingdom
 * Snagret Hole

Points of interest
The central area of the map contains two Burgeoning Spiderworts that produce red berries as well as housing a few Honeywisps. A purple berry-yielding Burgeoning Spiderwort can be found on the ledge that has the stump that leads to the Bulblax Kingdom. On the southwestern ledge of the map after ten days have passed there will be three 10 pellet Pellet Posies; one for each primary Pikmin types; and one 20 pellet Pellet Posy that periodically cycles through the three primary colors. The Blue Onion can be found in a large pool on the northern side of the map.

Piklopedia and Treasure Hoard
By placing the ship icon on the Awakening Wood in the area selection menu, the Piklopedia and the Treasure Hoard will take place in the Awakening Wood, although it is actually a slightly different version of the area that is closer to The Forest of Hope in design. The following differences can be noted:
 * The small lake to the west of the landing site is absent; it's just a straight pathway, and the area around it is less tight, too.
 * To the northeast of the landing site, the bridge that grants access to the Bulblax Kingdom does not exist, and instead, there is an unusable twig.
 * To the left of where the bridge that would grant access to the Bulblax Kingdom would be, there is a wall. This wall is not beveled in this version of the map. This distinction is typically only present for the terrain under bridges. The carrying paths for this Piklopedia area show unusual routing that leads from the top of the wall where the Bulblax Kingdom is to the lower ground, so it is likely a bridge was originally planned to be there.
 * The ramp that allows one-way escape from the area behind the White Flower Garden's section does not exist.
 * There is a twig that overlaps the location of the seesaw blocks. With some effort, it is possible to walk up the twig and get to the higher ground.
 * Because of the addition of a twig in this version of the map, the nearby rock and plant on the wall have been moved as a result.
 * The bit of terrain where the White Flower Garden would be located is just a pond, and there is no rusty metal.
 * The pathway leading up to the cave is also not grassy.
 * The large lake at the north of the area is missing, and instead, there is just flat terrain.
 * The markings under the Decorative Goo's location are gone.
 * The tree where the Snagret Hole is located is absent.
 * The section that contains the Hole of Beasts has much fewer petals on the ground.
 * The plate that contains a clog to the north of the landing site doesn't have any clog markings.
 * The pot with the Pilgrim Bulb and the pot near it have more or less swapped heights, and there is no ramp that allows access to the northernmost pot.
 * Instead of a ramp, there is a slightly raised edge. The carrying paths for this Piklopedia area show unusual routing that leads from the plot that had the Sagittarius in to the edge's plot of land, so it is likely a bridge was originally planned to be there.
 * A cluster of petals has been moved to the ramp's initial spot as a result of it being not present in this version of the map.
 * The shadow projection is more sharper, is black instead of being tinted blue, and is missing some branch shadows in the landing area. The shadows over the pathway leading to the Hole of Beasts and the Healing Cask's stump has been made darker, while the shadows on the ledge near the gate leading to the Blue Onion has been made lighter.
 * The tree that the Healing Cask in the US version or the Hypnotic Platter in the European version are on has a root protruding onto the pathway, next to a bag; this root has a hole in it in the Piklopedia version of the area, but not in the in-game one. The same root in The Forest of Hope also has the same hole.
 * The same tree's stump is also cut a bit lower in the Piklopedia version of the area.

Trivia

 * The Awakening Wood was initially meant to be called the "Forest of Awakening".
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the stage Distant Planet is based on the Awakening Wood.
 * The Pikmin 3 title screen's terrain is an altered version of the Awakening Wood's west corridor. This comparison is detailed here.
 * While walking through the area, calls can be heard.
 * In, Pikmin can occasionally sing the Awakening Wood's theme while riding Oatchi.