Maturity: Difference between revisions

The most basic way for Pikmin to increase in level is to let them remain underground for some time without [[pluck]]ing them. As they stay underground, they extract nutrients from the soil{{cite quote|If you leave Pikmin in the ground for a while without picking them, they will extract more nutrients from the soil and grow as shown below.|Pikmin Growth section|the ''[[Pikmin (game)|Pikmin]]'' instruction manual}}, which allows them to evolve from their current stage to the next one every few minutes.

The other common way to have Pikmin mature is to feed them [[nectar]]. This will instantly set them to flower status if they are on the leaf or bud stages.

===Buried Pikmin===

In the first two games, buried flower Pikmin wither and disappear if left underground for too long, but do eventually return as a leaf, where the cycle repeats. Interestingly, in ''[[Pikmin 3]]'', buried Pikmin will not be able to evolve past leaf stage on the first [[day]], nor on Brittany's section of the first [[Distant Tundra]] day. In ''Pikmin 3'', Pikmin that are buried and far from the player will also not evolve, probably because they are [[Camera#Off-camera objects|off camera]]; they only mature when the player gets close to them.

 

In ''Pikmin'' and ''Pikmin 2'', Pikmin only evolve if the leader is in the same area they are, and if the gameplay is playing. This means that if the player returns to a buried leaf Pikmin some day later, they will not find a flower Pikmin, regardless if the day with the leaf Pikmin was ended with the pause menu or not. In ''Pikmin 3'' though, this was changed so that Pikmin that stay buried overnight will evolve to the flower stage, and since buried Pikmin in the flower stage do not revert like in the previous games, leaving buried Pikmin overnight is a good way to evolve them. This is also true if the player ends the day early from the pause menu (even if the Pikmin don't appear as flowers in the sunset cutscene), and works regardless of how long during the day the buried Pikmin has been left.

 

In all games, buried Pikmin take 2 minutes to advance in stage. In ''Pikmin'' and ''Pikmin 2'', once a buried Pikmin reaches the flower stage, it stays that way for 3 minutes, where it eventually wilts and disappears; it stays as a flower forever in ''Pikmin 3''. After wilting, a Pikmin takes 1 minute to return as a leaf in ''Pikmin'', but only 8 seconds in ''Pikmin 2''.