Pellet
A Pellet is a nutrition-packed, crystallized 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. If the color of the Pellet (numbered 1 only) matches the color of the Onion it is brought to, more Pikmin are produced. At 5, 10 and 20, if brought to the same colored Onion, there will be 5, 10 and 20 Pikmin 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. 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, 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, 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 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, 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, especially in The Forest Navel.
Destination
When carrying Pellets, the number shown indicates the color 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 is an equal majority of Pikmin of two or more of these colors, the destination is based on the total number of Purple and White Pikmin. This is the case, therefore, when only White or Purple Pikmin are carrying the Pellet, since the other color carriers are all equally zero.
In these cases, if just one Purple or White Pikmin is carrying an object, it will be taken to the Red Onion; if two are carrying it, it will go to the Yellow Onion, while three will take it to the Blue Onion. Any number exceeding three will cause the cycle to repeat.
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 color, once every few seconds, between the colors 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 Description
"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.
Trivia
- If one were to get a pellet off a high ledge, it will occasionally flip over and show the reverse of whatever number the pellet had on it.
- 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.