Pellet
A Pellet is a nutrition-packed, crystallized nectar that contains vitamins and such, like any other food, helps organisms grow; they are one of the three ways to produce Pikmin. These items are vital to the early growth of Pikmin, as you won't have many to take on large creatures at the start of the game. Pellets comes in four sizes, and each one produces more Pikmin. If the color of the Pellet matches the color of the Onion it is brought to, more Pikmin are produced. If not, half of the weight of the Pellet, rounded up, is the amount of Pikmin produced. The number on the Pellet represents its weight. They are found on the top of the Pellet Posies, and sometimes on the ground. Certain creatures of the Pikmin World also leave Pellets as spoils at times: they have presumably eaten Pellets, which could indicate the possibility that the same creatures are omnivores, if not herbivores.
Pellet Sizes
- 1 Pellet: The most common size of Pellet and the only kind found on Pellet Posies in Pikmin 1. If they are brought to the same colored Onion, they produce 2 Pikmin, if not, they produce just 1 Pikmin.
- 5 Pellet: A fairly rare Pellet; these were found on the ground or dropped by enemies in Pikmin 1, but Pellet-bearing Pellet Posies debuted with this Pellet in Pikmin 2. If they are brought to the same colored Onion, they produce 5 Pikmin, if not, they produce only 3 Pikmin. The Pellet Posies for this plant are only found in the Valley of Repose.
- 10 Pellet: These are even rarer, as these are only in significant places in Pikmin 1, and only four reappearing Pellet Posies with Pellets of weight 10 are found in Pikmin 2: three in the Awakening Wood, and one in the Valley of Repose. If they are brought to the same colored Onion, they produce 10 Pikmin, if not, they produce 5 Pikmin. they are also dropped by the Toady Bloyster and the Spotty Bulbear (Day 30) in the Perplexing Pool. It is also dropped by the Fiery Bulblax in the Valley of Repose, the one that drops the Temporal Mechanism.
- 20 Pellet: The most rare of all, these are very large and very difficult to find; in Pikmin 2, there is actually a Pellet Posy for this Pellet that regrows, located near the Snagret Hole in the Awakening Wood, which bears the only 20 Pellet in the game. In Pikmin 1, a yellow 20 Pellet, presumably grown from a 20 Pellet Posy, is found on top of a tree stump, where only Yellow Pikmin can reach it. It is located in the Forest of Hope. There are also 20 pellets of all 3 colors lying around in the back area where the Pearly Clamclamps are at The Impact Site. There are many 20 pellets lying round everywhere throughout Challenge Mode as well. 50 pikmin maximum can carry a 20 Pellet, instead of the normal of exactly twice its weight. If they are brought to the same colored Onion, they produce 20 Pikmin; if not, they produce 10 Pikmin.
Many 10 and 20 Pellets (including many 1s and 5s) are found in Challenge Mode (Pikmin 1), especially in The Forest Navel.
Destination
When carrying Pellets, the number shown indicates the colour of Onion that is the item's destination; this can change if the Pikmin carrying it are removed or others added. When a Pellet in such a situation is carried, the majority of Red-, Yellow- or Blue Pikmin decides its destination. When there are no Red, Yellow or Blue Pikmin (Purple or White only), it usually ends up at the nearest Onion to the start of the carrying. All of this is usually true, though random things seem to happen sometimes. If only one primary colored pikmin is carrying a pellet and the rest that are carrying it are purple or white, the primary colored pikmin's onion gets the pellet.
Pellet Posy Colors in Pikmin 2
At the start of Pikmin 2, all the Pellet Posies are red. The only color of Pellet Posies that can be seen, without counting those situated where the Onions of Blue and Yellow Pikmin are first encountered, are those colors of Pikmin that have so far been collected. The Pellet Posies where the Blue Onion is found are always blue and those where the Yellow Onion is first found are always yellow.
All other pellets constantly change colour, once every few seconds, between the colours of the pikmin that have so far been collected, in the order: red, yellow, blue. Pellets cannot ever be purple or white, or aid in producing purple or white pikmin directly.
Brawl Trophy
"Items that contain concentrated essence of the Pikmin's home world. This essence is the keystone to all life on the planet. Harvested from pellet grass or flowers, Pikmin can take pellets back to Onions to produce more Pikmin. If the Onion and the pellet are the same color, it produces more Pikmin. The number on the top of a pellet tells how many Pikmin must carry it."
The "Pellet Flowers" referred to in the description are Pellet Posies, yet "Pellet Grass" was not mentioned in Pikmin or Pikmin 2. It could possibly be a new feature in Pikmin 3.