The Exploration Kit is an assortment of twelve devices in Pikmin 2 that aid the player by giving Olimar and his companion new abilities, such as running faster and lighting up the surroundings in caves. They are all obtained as treasures, namely all of the Explorer's Friend Series – except The Key – and are made useful by the ship.
Most of the treasures that unlock the items in the kit are held by the bosses of each cave from the first three of the game's areas, with the exceptions being the Brute Knuckles, which is held by a Mamuta in the Frontier Cavern, the Spherical Atlas, which is in a cave with no boss, and the Geographic Projection, which is located above ground in the Awakening Wood. The Frontier Cavern therefore has two upgrading treasures, while the three caves in the Wistful Wild do not contain any.
Contents
- Sphere Chart (Spherical Atlas): unlocks Awakening Wood.
- Survey Chart (Geographic Projection): unlocks Perplexing Pool.
- Treasure Gauge (Prototype Detector): a treasure proximity indicator.
- Napsack (Five-man Napsack): allows sleeping with X /
. - Rocket Fist (Brute Knuckles): allows a third, more powerful punch.
- Rush Boots (Repugnant Appendage): makes leaders run faster.
- Solar System (Stellar Orb): lights up caves.
- Scorch Guard (Forged Courage): makes leaders resistant to fire.
- Anti-Electrifier (Dream Material): makes leaders resistant to electricity.
- Metal Suit Z (Justice Alloy): decreases damage taken by leaders.
- Mega Tweeter (Amplified Amplifier): increases whistle radius.
- Pluckaphone (Professional Noisemaker): allows Pikmin to be plucked by whistling.
Treasure Gauge
- See more: HUD.
The Treasure Gauge is a helpful device that helps with tracking down every treasure in the game, no matter if is out in the open, an enemy has it or it is buried. When it is in the Exploration Kit, a gauge appears on the HUD. In it, there is a needle that wiggles continuously when a treasure is in the current field or cave, and the closer the current leader is to a treasure, the farther to the right it goes, and the harder it beeps.
Napsack
The Napsack provides a quick method of returning to the Pikmin Onions above ground or the Research Pod when underground, which is achieved by holding X / once it has been obtained. When used, the leader in control falls asleep, and any nearby Pikmin, up to a maximum of four, carry him to their associated Onion, a minimum of just one being required.
This may seem like a useless ability, as it is possible to walk back to the Onions, taking more than four Pikmin as well; in actuality, the leader is carried back as quickly as if all flowered White Pikmin were holding him, regardless of the type or maturity of the actual Pikmin doing the carrying. The practical application of this is that it saves precious time: additionally, while one leader is being returned to the landing area, the player can control the other, thereby getting a little extra done.
This ability is similar to that in Pikmin, which is activated by holding Paddown / 
. Up to five Pikmin subsequently carry Olimar away, in doing so rendering him impervious to attacks. If any Pikmin carry Olimar to one of their Onions, the Onion will spin like it is making more Pikmin, but it actually sends out fireworks and Olimar is safely returned to the ground. This function does not exist in Pikmin 2, even though the Pikmin can carry Olimar to an Onion.
In the first game, lying down made Captain Olimar completely impervious to attacks. This is not true in Pikmin 2, save for the rocks that are spit by Armored Cannon Beetle Larvae and Decorated Cannon Beetles. If the leader in the Napsack is picked up by a Dweevil and this beast wanders off the sublevel into the abyss, a glitch occurs.
Rocket Fist
The Rocket Fist, a component of the Exploration Kit, enables a new, stronger punching combo attack for use by the leaders, which makes defeating enemies with leaders alone much easier and more efficient. Without the upgrade, the A / 
button will produce a simple right punch. Once this treasure has been collected, pressing A / a second time will perform a left-hook, and a third time launches a devastating wind-up punch. Due to a glitch, punching while moving makes the attacks come out faster, which greatly boosts the Rocket Fist's effectiveness.
This third punch has the strength of roughly three normal punches, and can dispatch a smaller enemy, such as a Dwarf Red Bulborb, with minimal effort. It is capable of reaching flying enemies and other obstacles high in the air, such as Puffy Blowhogs, if positioned directly under them.
The power-up will not affect the inactive leader, as his attack speed is programmed to be just slow enough not to trigger the function. Using the leader's attacks together will still boost the total damage by a fair amount, and is suggested to be used often, though with careful watch for counter attacks so the inactive leader can move in advance.
Rush Boots
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The Rush Boots is a modification to the leaders' footwear by the ship that allows them to run more quickly, at the same speed as flowered White Pikmin. The Rush Boots also renders the blowing attack of Puffy and Withering Blowhogs ineffective against leaders. The ship explains both functions as the result of lowered air resistance. It can provide to be a minor hindrance however, as the Pikmin's speed is not increased alongside the leader's, so they fall behind, are harder to control and often get stuck when going around corners.
Solar System
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The Solar System is a device that will illuminate any sort of darkness inside a cave's sublevels. This way, it is possible to see things that are very far away when underground. The name does not refer to where the Earth is located, but really means a system that produces solar or light energy. After recovering the treasure, the light changes take effect right away, but, like any other Exploration Kit ability, it can be revoked again if the player quits the cave via the pause menu instead of a geyser.
Scorch Guard
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Pikmin 2
The Scorch Guard is an armor upgrade that makes all leaders' suits impervious to fire. This way, there is no need to worry about being hurt when destroying fire geysers, or fighting enemies such as the Fiery Blowhog or Fiery Bulblax.
Pikmin 3
The Scorch Guard returns in Pikmin 3, along with the Anti-Electrifier and Metal Suit Z. Its function is the same as in Pikmin 2, to protect the user from fire, be it from the Fiery Blowhog's fire breath or the flaming skin of a Pyroclasmic Slooch. It's found in Twilight River buried on a ledge near the path leading to the Burrowing Snagret. The exploration note area hint 7 says that Captain Olimar doesn't need it anymore so he buried it so that someone could get as much use out of it as he did. After the events of the game, it and the other two returning upgrades are said to be sold on Koppai.
Area Hint 7
I consider myself to be a hardened veteran of planetary exploration now. With so many battles under my spacebelt, I no longer have need for this little item. I've since buried it nearby. Hopefully someone will be able to get use out of it.
Anti-Electrifier
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Pikmin 2
The Anti-Electrifier, when unlocked, makes the leaders' suits immune to electricity, including electrical attacks. The Titan Dweevil's electrical blasts, however, still knock leaders down, but without dealing any space-suit damage. This device is particularly useful when trying to pass by electrical hazards with a group of Yellow Pikmin.
Pikmin 3
The Anti-Electrifier, along with the Scorch Guard and Metal Suit Z return in Pikmin 3. It has the same function in Pikmin 2, to protect the user from electricity and electric attacks. It also allows you to attack enemies with an electric defense. It's found in the Distant Tundra near the snowy patch where Charlie crash landed in the beginning of the game. Note that, despite the fact that this area is explored with Pikmin, the suit upgrade is actually not present. Exploration note area hint 5 says that Captain Olimar buried it because he found Captain Charlie's impression in the snow and wanted to aid the unfortunate explorer. He even put an instruction manual for it (which tells you the function of it). All 3 suits are said to be sold on Koppai. In Mission Mode's battle bosses you don't have any of the suits. To prove it, face the 6th boss and run into the discharge plasm (the one that looks like a plasma globe).
Area Hint 5
Looks like someone took a tumble here in the fresh snow... Perhaps someone else is stranded here! If anyone is reading this there are several electrical contraptions in this area. I've buried something here in the snow. Hopefully it's useful!
Metal Suit Z
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The Metal Suit Z is an item in the Exploration Kit that increases the integrity of the pilots' suits. Any damage taken is reduced by half. This is useful for attempts in defeating a large Bulborb or Spotty Bulbear with leaders alone without coming to much harm. Even though the ship in Pikmin 2 announces getting bitten and stepped on causes less damage, these are not the only sources of damage that have their impact reduced – all kinds of damage are softened.
The Metal Suit Z returns in Pikmin 3, along with the Scorch Guard and the Anti-Electrifier. It is found in the Tropical Wilds near the pale green bridge on a ledge that players need two leaders for. It has the same function as the Exploration Kit treasure in Pikmin 2 – it reduces damage taken by leaders. All three space suits addons are said to be sold on Koppai.
Mega Tweeter
Unlocking the Mega Tweeter increases the range of the whistles of all leaders. The diameter of the visible circle on the screen increases to about 144% of its original size, thus more than doubling the area the whistle affects. This makes it easier to call scattered Pikmin to the leader's side, even when being slow in the Onions.
Pluckaphone
The Pluckaphone is a special item that powers the leaders' whistles with the ability to call buried Pikmin out from the ground, saving precious time that would otherwise be spent plucking them out. As well as picking newly produced Pikmin at the Onions, this is useful for calling out Pikmin that were planted by a Mamuta or transformed by Candypop Buds.
In the first trailer for Pikmin, Olimar is seen calling Pikmin from the ground, so the Pluckaphone may be an implementation of a prerelease element from the first Pikmin game.
