Boulder

Boulders are obstacles in the Pikmin games. They are large rocks that fall from the sky, often in groups, and can crush anything they land on. They can be identified by the growing shadow they cast on the floor as they fall, as well as the sound that accompanies their descent. These signs give players a warning that a rock is about to fall where the shadow is, giving them time to get out of the way.

In, boulders appear in some caves, and also in some Challenge Mode and 2-Player Battle levels. In, boulders only appear in Bingo Battle. Boulders in Bingo Battle fall faster than the ones in Pikmin 2. Rock Pikmin are immune to being crushed by boulders.

With ideal placing and timing, players can trigger a boulder drop such that it lands on top of an enemy, causing massive damage to the creature. Sometimes, if two boulders spawn close together in Pikmin 2, they can bump each other apart when they get close enough to the floor.

Triggers
The following can trigger a boulder to fall from the sky:


 * In caves, boulders can fall from the ceiling by themselves when a leader or Pikmin gets close to their spawn point.
 * The Empress Bulblax and the Segmented Crawbster can make boulders fall from the ceiling when they slam against a wall. These boulders spawn where the active leader is at.
 * In 2-Player Battle and Bingo Battle, a cherry power-up allows players to drop a shower of boulders where their opponent's active leader is. An item with the same effect can be obtained from capsules during Dandori Battles.

Because some of these triggers spawn boulders where the active leader is, players can anticipate a boulder downpour and quickly switch leaders to avoid having the boulders drop on leaders that have several Pikmin following them.

Locations

 * Story Mode caves
 * Frontier Cavern: 13 boulders in sublevel 7.
 * Shower Room: 3 boulders in sublevel 1.
 * Cavern of Chaos: 10 boulders in sublevel 3.
 * Hole of Heroes: 1 boulder in sublevel 7.
 * Dream Den: 4 boulders in sublevel 12.


 * Challenge Mode
 * Cave of Pain: 8 boulders.


 * 2-Player Battle
 * Carpet Plain: occasional boulders.

Boulder jump glitch
In Pikmin 2, it is possible to exploit a glitch in the way the game handles lying down, and using it to make the leader jump quite high. By lying down in a specific time while a boulder is dropping on the leader, the leader will be sent flying into the air.