103 Pikmin run

An 103-Pikmin run is a playthrough of Pikmin 2 with only 103 Pikmin, the minimum possible number. Like the 8-day run or the zero-death run, it is recommended that you have completed the game at least once before attempting due to its challenging nature.

Reasoning behind the number

The Doomsday Apparatus requires 100 purple Pikmin to carry. This means that the player also must keep one red, yellow, and blue to prevent Pikmin exctinction, adding up to a minimum of 103 Pikmin to collect all 201 treasures. It is also more challenging to try this without sprays, because it is possible to do so and because then it seems more like a minimum Pikmin challenge (having 100 Pikmin on the field is not really a minimum Pikmin run staple, but this still is challenging enough as a minimum Pikmin challenge due to the lack of sprays and the overwhelming amount of purples that must be collected before the Wistful Wild) The minimum amount of time this has ever been completed is in 8 days

8-day Walkthrough

Day 1

Valley of Repose

• Discover Red Pikmin, raise 20 of them
• Collect Courage Reactor
• PIKMIN COUNT: 20 reds, 0 purples, 0 whites, 0 yellows, 0 blues

Day 2

Valley of Repose

• Raise 48 Red Pikmin
• Collect Utter Scrap
• Complete the Emergence Cave, using the Violet Candypop Buds to transform 10 reds into 10 purples
• PIKMIN COUNT: 58 reds, 10 purples, 0 whites, 0 yellows, 0 blues

Day 3

Awakening Wood

• Complete Hole of Beasts, using the Violet Candypop Buds to transform 15 reds into 15 purples
• Complete White Flower Garden, using the Ivory Candypop Buds to transfrom 15 reds into 15 whites
• Collect most of the aboveground treasures, including the Geographic Projection
• Knock down poison walls/build bridges
• PIKMIN COUNT: 28 reds, 25 purples, 15 whites, 0 yellows, 0 blues

Day 4

Perplexing Pool

• Complete Citadel of Spiders, using the Ivory Candypop Bud to transform 5 reds into 5 whites
• Discover Yellow Pikmin, raise 20 of them
• Collect a few of the aboveground treasures, lay one near the base (for the scale glitch on Day 7)
• Destroy the barrier in the water via its top with reds
• Destroy the electric gates
• Complete Glutton's Kitchen, using the Violet Candypop Bud to transform 5 reds into 5 purples
• PIKMIN COUNT: 18 reds, 30 purples, 20 whites, 20 yellows, 0 blues

Day 5

Awakening Wood

• Knock down the two electric gates with the yellows
• Discover Blue Pikmin, raise 15 of them
• Collect Decorative Goo and any other remaining above ground treasure
• Complete Bulblax Kingdom
• Complete Snagret Hole, using the Violet Candypop Buds to transform 10 reds into purples, and using the Lapiz Lazuli Candypop Buds to transform 5 reds, 5 whites, and 5 yellows into 15 blues
• PIKMIN COUNT: 3 reds, 40 purples, 15 whites, 15 yellows, 30 blues

Day 6

Valley of Repose

• Clear the way with blue Pikmin (destroy bridge, drain, wall)
• Kill the enemies with purples
• Destroy the poison wall
• Collect the above ground treasures
• Complete Frontier Cavern, using the Violet Candypop Bud to transform 5 whites into 5 purples
• Complete Subterranean Complex, using the Violet Candypop Buds to transform 2 reds, 8 whites, and 5 blues into 15 purples
• NOTE: The player MUST collect the aboveground treasures before entering the caves so that paying off the debt will not end the day early
• PIKMIN COUNT: 1 red, 60 purples, 2 whites, 15 yellows, 25 blues

Day 7

Perplexing Pool

• Crack the drain and collect the other aboveground treasures
• Complete Submerged Castle, using the Violet Candypop Buds to transform 10 blues into 10 purples
• Complete Shower Room, using the Violet Candypop Buds to transform 10 blues into 10 purples
• Revisit Glutton's Kitchen, using the Golden Candypop Bud to transform 1 white into 1 yellow
• PIKMIN COUNT: 1 red, 80 purples, 1 white, 16 yellows, 5 blues

Day 8

Wistful Wild

• Knock down the electric fence and the drain
• Using purples, kill most of the foes in the area
• Let the purples work on the wall blocking the Dream Den by having the Groink knock out the poison vents
• Collect the aboveground treasures except for the Doomsday Apparatus
• Complete Hole of Heroes, using the Lapis Lazuli Candypop Bud to transform 5 yellows into 5 blues
• Complete Dream Den if possible (there may be a treasure that requires 15 blues, if resets are unfavorable, revisit the Hole of Heroes for another conversion to blues)
• Complete Cavern of Chaos, using the Violet Candypop Bud to transform 5 blues into 5 purples
• Revisit the Cavern of Chaos three more times, each time using the Violet Candypop Bud to transform the other Pikmin into purples (3 vistits = 15 more purples). Convert 5 yellows, 9 blues, and 1 white into the 15 purples.
• With the 100 purples, collect the Doomsday Apparatus
• PIKMIN COUNT: 1 red, 100 purples, 0 whites, 1 yellow, 1 blue