Spray

A spray is an item in Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 3. They can be collected and used at any time, and each has a different beneficial effect. In Pikmin 2, it is revealed that a species of plant called the Burgeoning Spiderwort produces berries that can be used to the leaders' advantage. There are two known types of spray, ultra-spicy and ultra-bitter, although only the former appears in Pikmin 3. The player can tell how many sprays they have on the HUD, and in Pikmin 3, they can also tell how close they are to concocting the next spray with berries; in Pikmin 2, the player needs to enter the pause menu for the berry count.

In Pikmin 2, there is an unlimited number of sprays the player can collect; however, if they collect more than 1,000 sprays, the thousands place won't show. In Pikmin 3, up to 99 ultra-spicy sprays can be collected.

Using a spray

When the player uses a spray, the current leader sprays the air in front of or behind them, and one dosage is removed from the stockpile. To use one, the player must press a certain button that maps to a certain spray. The effects are immediate, and for the case of the ultra-spicy spray, it doesn't matter whether a Pikmin actually touches the spray clouds or not, as all Pikmin in the party will get powered up.

Pressing the button does not use a spray right away – in the case of the ultra-spicy spray, if the current leader has no Pikmin in their group, pressing the button won't have any effect. In addition, in Pikmin 2, pressing the button when it has no effect will make the current leader's standing or walking animation reset, with the latter being more noticeable – this is purely aesthetic.

In Pikmin 2, / activates the ultra-spicy spray, while / uses the ultra-bitter spray. In Pikmin 3, with the classic controls, / / uses the ultra-spicy spray, and with the styuls controls, the corresponding button on the touchscreen must be tapped.

Types

Ultra-spicy spray

Ultra-spicy spray count.

Main article: Ultra-spicy spray.

This is obtained from red berries and is to be used on Pikmin. It has the effect of temporarily enhancing their strength and speed, and make their leaves, buds, or flowers glow red. This makes Pikmin more effective at fighting, building, destroying, and carrying for the 40 seconds it lasts. In Pikmin 3, it also makes them bloom into the flower stage. When used, a comical flatulence sound is heard.

Ultra-bitter spray

Ultra-bitter spray count.

Main article: Ultra-bitter spray.

Exclusive to Pikmin 2, this spray is obtained from purple berries. It affects enemies and not Pikmin (excluding 2-Player Battle). When used, it encases any enemies in the path of the spray in stone for approximately 9 seconds; this is often enough time to kill or severely weaken the beast. If an enemy is killed while still petrified, it crumbles without leaving behind a carcass to produce more Pikmin, instead dropping nectar or sprays. When used, a comical burp sound is heard.

Obtaining sprays

Both types of sprays can be made by returning ten of the respective color of Burgeoning Spiderwort berries to the Hocotate ship, the S.S. Drake, the research pod, or a SPERO, which then creates a spray dosage from them that can be used right away. The two known berry colors, purple and red, produce the two kinds of sprays. Sprays can also be found in most of the places nectar can, in the form of red or purple concentrated drop of nectars, each of which counts as one full dosage and is absorbed by a leader.

In alternate game modes, like challenges or two-player modes, the players start the level with specific number of sprays, and can obtain spray nectar inside the levels, without having to first collect ten berries from that type. In cooperative modes, both players have a shared stockpile.

Spray nectar

An ultra-spicy spray nectar drop.

An ultra-bitter spray nectar drop.

To concoct a spray, ten berries must be collected. However, once at least one spray of a certain kind has been made, spray nectar of that type will begin appearing. The drops were only given a name – "spray nectar" – in Pikmin 3. These blobs immediately add one spray dose to the inventory when collected. This means that they are more valuable than berries, as one doesn't need to gather ten of them to gain a dose. Spray nectar is similar in appearance to regular nectar, but are slightly larger and either red or purple, depending on the spray.

Unlike nectar, however, Pikmin cannot collect it. Once a leader walks over it, they'll squat down and proceed to suck up the liquid. This doesn't make sense however, as the leader is seen clearly drinking it using their mouth despite the helmet blocking it, and spray nectars are implied to be inedible; this is likely done as a joke on how Pikmin drink nectars.

Due to different lighting conditions inside caves, it is possible for spray nectar to occasionally appear with odd colors, such as blue or orange.

In Pikmin 2, when a leader gets hit by an enemy, bomb-rock or something else while absorbing a concentrated dose of spray, he stops absorbing it, and it shrinks and disappears. Worst, the spray does not count as being collected, so it's very important to be careful when trying to get a spray.

Spray nectar can be found on the following places, after at least one spray of them has been made:

Eggs
Ujadani
Iridescent Flint Beetles (one ultra-spicy nectar drop only)
Iridescent Glint Beetles (two ultra-spicy nectar drops only)
Doodlebugs (two ultra-bitter nectar drops only)
Unmarked Spectralids (color-coded)
Red Spectralids
Petrified enemies
Large crystals
Dirt mounds

Glitches

Captain Olimar and the President absorbing the same drop.

Spray duplication: In both versions of Pikmin 2, if the player can make it so that both leaders drink a drop of nectar at once, the game will register it as two individual collections, and add two sprays to the inventory.
Spray nectar swap: Again in both versions of Pikmin 2, occasionally an ultra-spicy nectar drop may provide an extra ultra-bitter spray instead. This can be caused purposely by absorbing a spray drop at the same time nectar or ultra-spicy spray nectar appears in the scene. Although rarer, the opposite can also happen.
Spray nectar softlock: In the GameCube version of Pikmin 2 only, by discovering a spray nectar drop at the same time the other leader is sucking it up, and by skipping the cutscene, the drop will become impossible to deplete, and any leader that touches it will become stuck in his absorption animation, with few ways to break free.

Gallery

Pikmin under the ultra-spicy spray's effect in Pikmin 3.
A drop of ultra-spicy spray in Pikmin 3.
A Burgeoning Spiderwort in Pikmin 2.
A Burgeoning Spiderwort in Pikmin 3.
A drop of ultra-spicy nectar found inside a large crystal.
Clay model of a Purple Pikmin carrying a Burgeoning Spiderwort berry.
An ultra-bitter spray drop with a blue tint.
An ultra-bitter spray drop with a dull grey tint.
Early screenshot of sprays on the HUD. No information about the yellow spray is currently known.
Captain Olimar spraying an ultra-bitter spray in front of him.
Alph spraying a single Blue Pikmin in Pikmin 3.