Pellet
A pellet is a crystallized chunk of nectar that contains vitamins and other nutrition. Pellets are used to produce Pikmin, by bringing them to the Onion, and are the main source of seeds at the start of the games, as large creatures require many Pikmin to kill safely.
Pellets come in four sizes, and each one produces a different amount of Pikmin. An Arabic numeral can be seen atop each one, reflecting its weight. Pellets with the numbers 1, 5, 10, and 20 exist. If the color of the pellet matches the color of the Onion it is brought to, that same number of Pikmin is produced (the exception being the number 1, which creates two Pikmin). If not, only half the number on the pellet, rounded up, will appear.
They are found on the top of Pellet Posies, and sometimes on the ground. Certain creatures of PNF-404 also leave pellets as spoils at times; they have presumably eaten pellets, which could indicate the possibility that the same creatures are herbivores, if not omnivores.
Sizes
- 1 pellet
- The most common size of pellet and the only kind found on Pellet Posies in Pikmin. 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 are found on the ground or dropped by enemies in Pikmin, 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 in Pikmin 2, but are more common in the other games. They can be found in some fixed placed in Pikmin 3, but two of them grow atop the defeated Quaggled Mireclops.
- 10 pellet
- These are even rarer, as these are only in significant places in Pikmin, 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 in Pikmin and Pikmin 2, or 6 in Pikmin 3. They are also dropped by the Toady Bloyster and the Spotty Bulbear (day 30) in the Perplexing Pool. Finally, it is also dropped by the Fiery Bulblax in the Valley of Repose – the one that holds the Temporal Mechanism – after its treasure has been salvaged. The only 10 pellet in Pikmin 3 is located on the Tropical Wilds, next to the Pyroclasmic Slooches and the Lesser Mock Bottom; it is always red.
- 20 pellet
- The rarest 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, a yellow 20 pellet is found on top of a tree stump, where only Yellow Pikmin can reach it, 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 around 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. These pellet types are absent from Pikmin 3.
Chart
The following chart lists information about the different sizes of pellet.
| Pellet | Weight | Max. carriers |
Number of seeds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Color match | Color mismatch | |||
| 1 pellet | 1 | 2[note 1] | 2 | 1 |
| 5 pellet | 5 | 10 | 5 | 3 |
| 10 pellet | 10 | 20 | 10 | 5 or 6[note 2] |
| 20 pellet | 20 | 50 | 20 | 10 |
- ^ See the section Three Pikmin carrying a 1 pellet section below.
- ^ 5 in Pikmin and Pikmin 2, 6 in Pikmin 3.
Availability
At the start of any game, all the Pellet Posies are red. Specific-colored pellets can be found lying around in some places, while the rest are inside enemies or atop Pellet Posies.
Some Pellet Posies have pellets with fixed colors. These are normally found next to the Onion where the respective Pikmin type is discovered, although they can exist in other places as well. All other Posies' pellets constantly change color, once every few seconds, between the colors of the Pikmin that have so far been collected, in the following order: red, yellow, blue. Pellets cannot ever be purple or white, or aid in producing Purple or White Pikmin directly. In Pikmin 3, the addition of new onions adds two more colors to the cycle, now making the order go red, gray, yellow, pink, blue.
To understand what rules determine which Pikmin type out of the carriers gets the pellet, please read the carrying article.
Other colors
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There is an apparent glitch or Easter egg that makes some pellets become unused colors when using the KopPad's panning feature. Playing with both the gamepad and TV, an area of the map that has Pellet Posies growing must be scrolled over with the gamepad so that a birds-eye view appears on the TV. However, the area viewed must be one which loads a new screen when accessed and cannot be part of the contiguous region shared with the landing site. A popular place to try this is the Quaggled Mireclops arena. After it is defeated, Pellet Posies will grow on it and may appear to be purple or brown. This is only a visual change, and temporary. Attempting to go to the arena will make all the pellets turn to normal, and even unpausing the gameplay from the KopPad using the icon on the top-right corner will make them instantly change to a normal color. If the area is entered just once, the color change cannot be viewed again until a new day is started. Trying this with other areas, such as the section of Tropical Wilds explored on day 1, can result in purple, brown, peach or olive colored pellets. At the moment, it is not clear if this is a secret purposely implemented into the game, or actually the result of a lighting glitch, as is the case with some spray drops in Pikmin 2.
Trophy descriptions
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
"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" is not mentioned in Pikmin or Pikmin 2. This could refer to nectar weed, which does not contain pellets, but rather, raw nectar. Flukeweed were introduced to the Pikmin series after Brawl, but these plants often drops pellets and resemble grass.
To obtain the pellet trophy, the player must clear Target Smash! level 2 with 10 characters.
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U
"A crystallized nectar that contains the essence of the Pikmin's home world, these pellets are most often harvested from the plant life of the planet. Each pellet displays a number on its surface, and this number may increase over time. The Onion generates more Pikmin with bigger numbers."
The description is the same for both versions.
Three Pikmin carrying a 1 pellet
The maximum number of Pikmin that can carry a 1 pellet is two – one on each side. It wasn't until Pikmin 3 that three Pikmin were allowed to carry a 1 pellet at the same time, but this is only true for two grounded Pikmin and one winged Pikmin. There is however, a bit of a mystery surrounding the ability for three Pikmin to carry a single 1 pellet in the first Pikmin game.
There have been reports of a a rare glitch that allows a trio of grounded carriers to handle a single pellet. This glitch is currently unconfirmed. In addition, on the page that details the Onions and pellets in Pikmin's instruction manual, there is a picture of three Blue Pikmin carrying a 1 pellet. It is not known whether this was possible in a previous version of the game or if the screenshot is actually demonstrating the supposed glitch. These factors make it unclear if the ability for three Pikmin to carry a 1 pellet is true, and if so, whether it's intended or not.
Gallery
- Blue Pellet.jpg
A blue pellet, which is best for producing Blue Pikmin.
Trivia
- If one gets a pellet off a high ledge, it can flip over and show the reverse of whatever number the pellet had on it. This is only true for the first two games.
- It was revealed through a trailer of an earlier version of Pikmin that all enemies that died would turn into pellets with a small sparkle of blue light, meaning that enemy corpses may have not been an idea at the time.
- This trailer also showed that 40 pellets were going to be included, but were taken out.
- In Pikmin, pellets that fall from a height (normally while being carried) make a "spring" sound.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Portuguese (NoE) |
Comprimido / Drageia | Pill | First translation taken from the Pikmin instruction manual, second from the Super Smash Bros. for 3DS trophy. |