101 Pikmin challenge

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A 101 Pikmin challenge is a challenge run where a player collects all treasures in Pikmin 2 using only 101 Pikmin, the known minimum amount possible. This challenge contains no deaths, and uses Candypop Buds to switch Pikmin types when necessary. 100 Purple Pikmin are needed to lift the Doomsday Apparatus, plus one Red Pikmin, to avoid an extinction. Unlike the previous known minimum of 103, there is no need for one Yellow or Blue Pikmin because their Onions are never considered "discovered", although those Pikmin types are still obtained. This challenge can be completed in 8 days.

103 Pikmin is the minimum number of Pikmin possible in a run that does not use any exploits. To simply repay the debt, 35 Pikmin is the minimum amount, given that it is possible to obtain money repeatedly from enemies defeated in caves, but in order to reach the first cave, 35 Pikmin are needed for the paper bag at the Valley of Repose.

General idea

Normally, 103 Pikmin would be the minimum required amount. It is mandatory to grow 35 Pikmin in order to continue with the second day, since there is a paper bag on the Valley of Repose that requires the weight of 35 Red Pikmin (the only available type at the time) before even the Emergence Cave can be discovered. From there, the player may use Candypop Buds from various caves to change Pikmin types when needed. The task that requires the most amount of Pikmin is 100 Purple Pikmin, which are needed to carry the Doomsday Apparatus, meaning a total of 100 Pikmin is the minimum necessary, task-wise. By the time that treasure can be collected, Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin are already part of the player's arsenal, but because one cannot convert all Reds, Yellows, and Blues into Purples, since doing so would trigger a Pikmin extinction, at least one of each of those three types must be alive, raising the total minimum to 103 (100 Purples + 3 of each basic color).

However, the Pikmin extinction will only take effect if the respective type's Onion has been considered "discovered" by the game. If it hasn't, the Pikmin count for that type can reach 0 and no extinction will take place. The only way to do this is and still be able to use that Pikmin type is to convince the wild Pikmin to join Captain Olimar's side without interfering with the Onions. This is only possible for the Yellow and Blue Pikmin, since Reds are obligatorily obtained the "proper" way on the first day. To do this, the player must use exploits to get to the wild Pikmin without triggering the usual discovery cutscenes, and then using the leaders and Pikmin at their disposal to drag an idle wild Pikmin towards a patch of nectar weed, since wild Pikmin cannot be called to the group but can be pushed around. Once near, the Pikmin will begin working on the nectar weed, and at this point, the Pikmin still can't be used, but if it finishes the task, the game will change its status from "wild idle" to "friendly idle", meaning it can now be used by the leaders.

Still, it will be impossible to grow any more Pikmin of that type until that species is considered "discovered" by the game. This can happen when the first Pikmin seed of that type is plucked, meaning that a Swooping Snitchbug or Mamuta can be used to bury the lone Pikmin so that a leader may then pluck it out. From there on out, it is possible to use Yellow and Blue Pikmin like normal, but their Onion will never be considered "discovered" by the game, which will stop the Pikmin extinction checks from happening.

8 day run outline

The following article or section contains guides. The strategies shown are just suggestions.

The following is a brief outline of what needs to be done for an 8 day run, skipping day 1, which plays the same as any normal run.

Notes

• On day 1, you may want to wait for the Pikmin to grow flowers so that they will be more helpful in the next days.
• When entering a cave, try to obtain the most sprays you can, using the double sprays glitch, and if you want, restarting the game so that eggs give out sprays most of the time.
• You may unlock sprays at any time, but it is recommended to do so on day 3. There are carrying path oversights that allow you to reach the ultra-bitter berries on the Awakening Wood at this point in the game.

Day 2

Valley of Repose

• Cultivate 30 Red Pikmin and 29 Purple Pikmin.
• Collect all treasures available, so the Utter Scrap and everything inside the Emergence Cave.

Pikmin count: 30 Reds, 29 Purples, 0 Whites, 0 Yellows, 0 Blues (59 in total).

Day 3

Awakening Wood

• Collect the Sunseed Berry.
• Enter the White Flower Garden and clear it.
• Enter the Bulblax Kingdom with a carrying path oversight and clear it.
• Enter the Hole of Beasts and clear it.
• After these caves, end up with 35 White Pikmin, 23 Purple Pikmin, and 1 Red Pikmin, even if that requires entering the White Flower Garden twice.
• Collect the Geographic Projection, Chance Totem, Pilgrim Bulb, and Air Brake.
• Collect the Healing Cask (Hypnotic Platter in Europe) exploiting the high ledge glitch.
• Get the wild Blue Pikmin sighting cutscene by getting close to the electric gate.
• Enter and clear the Snagret Hole.
• Use the Snagret Hole and Bulblax Kingdom so that you end up with no Purple Pikmin, 58 White Pikmin, and 1 Red Pikmin.

Pikmin count: 1 Red, 0 Purples, 58 Whites, 0 Yellows, 0 Blues (59 in total).

Day 4

Perplexing Pool

• Enter and clear the Citadel of Spiders.
• Using a carrying exploit, go up to where the wild Yellow Pikmin are from the southern wall, and push one into the nearby patch of nectar weed. Once it finishes plucking the weeds, the Yellow Pikmin will be controllable.
• Collect the Impediment Scourge.
• Enter the Citadel of Spiders with your Pikmin. On sublevel 3, have a Swooping Snitchbug bury the Yellow Pikmin, and then pluck it from the ground. This will cause a glitched version of the Yellow Pikmin introduction cutscene. Leave the cave.
• Enter and clear the Glutton's Kitchen, using a carrying path oversight.
• Use the past two caves to end up with 95 Yellow Pikmin and 4 White Pikmin, even if it means going into the Glutton's Kitchen several times.
• Enter a cave and make sure that some Yellow Pikmin stay in the overworld. This will force them to go to the Onion, which will be forced to move into the landing site, in an activated/inactivated hybrid state.

Pikmin count: 1 Red, 0 Purples, 4 White, 95 Yellows, 0 Blues (100 in total).

Day 5

Awakening Wood

• Open the gate to the Blue Pikmin, and drag one of them (after it is idle – petrifying a Wogpole might help a group defeat it and turn the Pikmin idle) all the way to the patch of nectar weed near the landing site, to the southeast of the Pilgrim Bulb. Once the weeds are all plucked, call the Pikmin.
• Enter the Snagret Hole, and on sublevel 3, have a Swooping Snitchbug bury the Pikmin. Pluck it out and exit the cave.
• Collect the Decorative Goo.
• Use the caves to end up with 1 Red Pikmin, 25 Yellow Pikmin, 31 Blue Pikmin, 34 White Pikmin, and 10 Purple Pikmin.

Pikmin count: 1 Red, 10 Purples, 34 Whites, 25 Yellows, 31 Blues (101 in total).

Day 6

Valley of Repose

• Pull out all Pikmin except for the 1 Red.
• Collect the Fossilized Ursidae.
• Enter and clear the Frontier Cavern.
• Collect the Unspeakable Wonder, Pink Menace, Temporal Mechanism, and Spiny Alien Treat.
• Enter and clear the Subterranean Complex.
• Use the Subterranean Complex to end up with 17 Yellow Pikmin, 30 Blue Pikmin, 3 White Pikmin, 50 Purple Pikmin, and 1 Red Pikmin.
• Make it so that the debt is repaid after you've done everything on this day.

Pikmin count: 1 Red, 50 Purples, 3 Whites, 17 Yellows, 30 Blues (101 in total).

Day 7

Perplexing Pool

• Collect the Onion Replica and Massage Girdle.
• Enter and clear the Submerged Castle, raising your Purple Pikmin total to 60 and decreasing your count of Blues to 20.
• Enter and clear the Shower Room, exchanging 5 of your Blues for Purples.
• Collect the Aquatic Mine, Fortified Delicacy, Gherkin Gate, and the Optical Illustration (Abstract Masterpiece in Europe).
• Enter the Shower Room and exchange 5 more Blues for Purples.

Pikmin count: 1 Red, 70 Purples, 1 White, 19 Yellows, 10 Blues (101 in total).

Day 8

Wistful Wild

• Enter and clear the Cavern of Chaos, and change your numbers so that you have 75 Purples, 3 Blues, 21 Yellows.
• Collect the Conifer Spire, Seed of Greed, Anti-hiccup Fungus, and Armored Nut.
• Enter and clear the Hole of Heroes and Dream Den. Due to the low number of Blue Pikmin on sublevel 10 of the Dream Den, you will need to align the enemy corpses so that the dropped Talisman of Life bounces close to the landing stump.
• Use the Cavern of Chaos to convert all Whites, Yellows, and Blues into Purple Pikmin, then collect the Doomsday Apparatus.

Pikmin count: 1 Red, 100 Purples, 0 Whites, 0 Yellows, 0 Blues (101 in total).

See also

• Challenge run
• Zero death challenge
• 50 Pikmin challenge
• 42 Pikmin challenge
• Archived 103 Pikmin challenge page

External links

• Playlist of a 101 Pikmin challenge on YouTube