Co-op Mode

Co-op Mode refers to a mode of play in where a second player assists player 1 by pitching pebbles and other items. This mode can be enabled or disabled at any time, and applies to Story Mode and the Dandori Battle dedicated mode present on the title screen.

Overview
The assisting player takes control of a reticle, called the Pebble Pitcher, that is always present on-screen. During gameplay, the player can aim at enemies or tasks and press to pitch a pebble at whatever the reticle is pointing. The pebbles fly from one of the sides of the screen, whichever side the reticle is closest to, and hit the target after only a fraction of a second.

Hitting an enemy will lower its health by a small amount, and can even kill it. The same applies to obstacles, including obstacles that include some hazard and are usually meant to be destroyed with the appropriate Pikmin types. Hitting an object that is being carried by Pikmin or Oatchi (but not swallowed by Oatchi) will make it be carried much faster for a short time. Hitting a buried object will slowly dig it out.

Every time a hit lands, the player receives Co-op Points, meaning the Co-op Gauge above the reticle fills slightly. When the gauge fills up fully, it resets to empty and the second player receives an item for their inventory. A message also appears on-screen notifying of this. Once the player has an item in their inventory, an icon of said item will appear beneath the reticle, with a number above that icon indicating how many of that item they have. As the player receives other types of items, they will also appear on their inventory to the left or right of the large central icon, indicating that the player can scroll left and right to see and select other items.

makes the player throw one of the currently selected item toward the reticle. Some of the items can only be gained once they are available in The Lab.

Items available from the start: Items available once they appear in the lab:
 * Nectar
 * Scrummy bone
 * Pikpik carrot
 * Bomb rock
 * Ice blast
 * Lightning shock

Co-op Mode can be enabled or disabled from the options menu, accessible from any point of the game. When disabled, any items that player 2 has collected will be gone.

The player can also use the Pebble Pitcher like normal from the Survey Drone's viewpoint, allowing the player to kill enemies and destroy obstacles without player 1 needing to expose themselves to danger, although it only works when the gameplay is unpaused from within the Survey Drone. Likewise, they can also shoot from the CPU player's viewpoint in Dandori Battles. It is also possible to throw a pikpik carrot at a button to press it before the intended time, though the buttons after the Frozen Inferno can only be pressed when the cave has been finished.

Controlling
throws a pebble. A tiny icon on the bottom-right of the reticle reminds the player of this fact.

The second player can press to re-place the Pebble Pitcher reticle at the center of the screen in case it goes off-screen. When that happens, a reminder will show-up on-screen informing the player of that button.

and change which item is selected left and right, respectively. Icons for these buttons also appear above the respective items in the Pebble Pitcher's inventory, though they're present even if the player has no other items. throws one of the selected item; this too is represented by a tiny icon of the button on the bottom right of the currently selected item in the inventory.