Hocotate

Hocotate, when viewed from space

Hocotate Freight's yard and surrounding architecture

Hocotate is Olimar, and Louie's home planet. It is a red-colored planet that possesses a pair of two intersecting planetary rings. Its exact location in the universe has yet to be specified, though it most likely takes place in another star system to ours as an incredibly bright star can be seen behind it.

In Olimar's Voyage Log, he explains that his family is probably gazing up at the planet's "pale red moon." Stars are visible from the planet's surface during the daytime, indicating a transparent atmosphere. As Hocotatians find oxygen gas poisonous, there must be little or no pure oxygen in its atmosphere.

Geography

File:Loan Sharks.png

Note the wind and clouds in the back/foreground.

From what can be seen, at least part of the planet is desert-like, though the President notes a location known as the "Hocotate Swamp". Hocotate Freight appears to be in or near a built-up area, which suggests that at least some of Hocotate may be densely populated. Olimar's wife mentions "hot springs" in one of her e-mails, indicating that geothermally heated water exists in the planet's crust. Olimar's family also mentions a beach, suggesting that the planet has at least one large body of water.  However, since Hocotatians are 1 inch tall, what would be considered a large body of water may be slightly smaller than what would be considered large to us.

Life

Hocotatians are around 2cm (3/4 in.) tall. It is uncertain what sort of gas they breathe, but oxygen is known to be extremely poisonous to them; Olimar and Louie must protect themselves while on the Planet of the Pikmin by wearing a spacesuit. Bulbie, Olimar's pet, is shown to be a bulborb-like species which act similarly to dogs. The planet shows some signs of flora growing on its surface, including vegetables such as Pikpik Carrots. Olimar mentions that there are mosquitoes in one of his journal entries.

Technology

The technology is shown to be very advanced, with particles such as Gluons in use (evidenced by the Gluon Drive ship part in Pikmin), a source of endless energy (the Eternal Fuel Dynamo), and a weapon that can destroy objects as large as stars (the Nova Blaster). However, Olimar's notes in Pikmin 2's Treasure Hoard say that the technology behind a light bulb (the Stellar Orb) and a match (the Flame of Tomorrow) is completely unknown to his people.

Government

Hocotate is shown to be commercialised; its currency is the Poko, a small coin that resembles those from the Mario series. Items from the Pikmin Planet are considered extremely rare treasures, and can be worth a particularly large amount of Pokos, which enables Olimar and Louie to pay off their company's debt of x10,100. For comparison, x100 is more than a year's salary for the President of Hocotate Freight. A Mayor of Hocotate is alluded in Olimar's notes on some occasions, though his status in Hocotatian government is unknown.

"Happy Hocotate Savings and Loan" is a Hocotate company with which the President attempts to take out a loan in Pikmin 2 to cover for the lost shipment of Golden Pikpik Carrots. It is later revealed in one of his letters to Olimar that, instead, he has accidentally taken out a loan with the company just next door, the "All-Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks", which forces him to go into hiding.

Trivia

• The name "Hocotate" actually comes from Nintendo of Japan's headquarter's address; 11-1, Kamitoba-hokotate-cho.
• In a possible reference to urban Japan: a building resembling a capsule hotel is shown.
• If you look closely in the cutscenes that show Hocotate, you can see into the galaxy.
• In Pikmin 3, Brittany states Hocotate is famous for their Pikpik Carrots.