Red Bulbouse

Red Bulbouse
Enemy
Family	Numbouse

The Red Bulbouse is a small numbouse that mimics a bulborb in appearance and mannerisms.

In fanon games

Below this point is where users place their version of the Red Bulbouse.

A Friendly Amprat's version

See: User:A Friendly Amprat

Red Bulbouse
Scientific name	Porcellus pseudooculii russus
Family	Numbouse
Areas	Generally anywhere that Red Bulborbs can be found
Caves	Generally anywhere that Red Bulborbs can be found
Attacks	Eats Pikmin, sets Pikmin on fire

The Red Bulbouse is a bulborb-mimicking numbouse. This creature is similar to a Dwarf Red Bulborb in appearance, but with a much more mouse-like face, with prominent ears and whiskers. It also has a long tail as long as the rest of its body from its snout to its rump, and this tail drags behind it as it scampers about. It is about half the size of a Dwarf Red Bulborb, making it a very small creature.

The Red Bulbouse notices Pikmin at a much greater distance than Dwarf Red Bulborbs, as its large ears are sensitive to noise and it can hear approaching Pikmin in a large radius. When it senses Pikmin, the Red Bulbouse will quickly scamper at them, moving at a rapid speed comparable to a White Pikmin. Red Bulbice have little health, and a few Pikmin attacks or one hit directly to the back of one will kill it immediately. However, this is quite difficult due to the Red Bulbouse's fast rate of movement. Once a Red Bulbouse is within range of Pikmin, it will rapidly grab one in its mouth and then flee to a safe distance before chewing and swallowing. Red Bulbice eat Pikmin much faster than Dwarf Red Bulborbs, with one being able to chew and swallow a Pikmin in less than half a second. However, the Red Bulbouse will not begin to chew until it is safely out of range of Pikmin, so it is often possible to kill it or make it drop its Pikmin before it is too late.

The Red Bulbouse is evolved from the Fire-Spitting Fermouse, a numbouse species able to use fire, and as such the Red Bulbouse itself is immune to fire and has the ability to light itself on fire when attacking. The Red Bulbouse can only maintain its fiery state for a few seconds before it runs out of fuel and loses its flame, after which it takes ten to twenty seconds before the Red Bulbouse can light itself again. Because of this, the Red Bulbouse will only light itself on fire when about to make contact with a Pikmin swarm in its vicinity, setting the Pikmin on fire to prevent them from swarming it while it grabs a Pikmin from the squad, and then fleeing with the Pikmin in its mouth before the fire is extinguished. The Red Bulbouse will not attack Pikmin swarms while its fire is recharging, and will flee from them instead. It will, however, still attack and pick off individual Pikmin that are not part of squads, even if its fire is currently recharging.

Red Bulbouse bites do minimal damage to leaders, comparable to the damage from being shaken off by most enemies. However, the Red Bulbouse will repeatedly bite several times each second while attacking a leader, which can cause a leader's health to drop very quickly if they do not react.

One effective way to deal with Red Bulbice is by making use of a leader's whistle. Due to their sensitive ears, Red Bulbice are harshly affected by the shrill sound of a whistle, and if a Red Bulbouse is caught in the range of it, it will begin to flee in a direction opposite of the leader to escape from the loud noise, and it will drop a Pikmin if it has one in its mouth. If whistled several times repeatedly by a leader, the Red Bulbouse will freak out and begin to panic and run in circles for up to ten seconds, an interval of time that can be extended even further if the whistling continues. While in a state of panic, a Red Bulbouse cannot use its fire due to its distraction caused by the panic. However, a panicking Red Bulbouse will repeatedly let out distressed squeaks, which have the same properties as a Dwarf Red Bulborb's squeal, meaning they will awaken sleeping Red Bulborbs and draw them and other enemies to the Bulbouse's current location. For this reason, it is unwise to repeatedly whistle a Red Bulbouse unless there are no other enemies in the vicinity.

Red Bulbice are observed to have unique interactions with many other creatures, as they will flee from any creatures moving in their hearing range, as long as these creatures are larger than the size of a dwarf Bulborb. This fear that Red Bulbice possess extends to even Red Bulborbs, as Red Bulbice will flee from a Red Bulborb while it is awake. Amusingly, there is a family of creatures that will actually flee from Red Bulbice, which is the snootwhack family, due to their fear of mice. Snootwhackers will turn and flee if they see or hear a Bulbouse, though they will not move far before they stop fleeing.

Notes

Olimar's notes

“In an interesting case of convergent evolution, some members of the numbouse family have been observed to resemble and mimic grub-dogs, a trait first observed in the breadbug family. These creatures have become known as "bulbice", and they are very similar to dwarf bulborbs, though much faster-moving and more prone to frighten. More interesting still, their fear of larger creatures extends to adult grub-dogs, even though these grub-dogs are not known to attack bulbice, and grub-dogs will often keep one or more of them around, exhibiting behaviors almost as if the grub-dog sees the bulbouse as its pet. Red bulbice uniquely retain fiery defense mechanisms from their ancestor, the Fire-Spitting Fermouse, while the much rarer snow bulbice are descended from Bearded Amprats and exhibit electrifying properties instead.”

Louie's notes

“Meat is unappetizing and has no nutritional value... Skip the Red Bulbouse, and look for a Dwarf Red Bulborb instead.”