Cave

Caves are the underground areas in Pikmin 2, of which 14 exist in all. Although there is a large overworld, most treasures are found in these caves, so most of the time playing the game is spent down them. All enemies, including bosses, respawn between visits - the only exception to this is Violet Candypop Buds, which, in some caves such as Frontier Cavern and Hole of Beasts, do not appear once the player has 20 or more Purple Pikmin already; this is to stop the player from easily gathering large numbers of purples.

Entering caves
The holes through which you enter the caves are round, rocky mounds, with a small hole in them with wisps of smoke coming out. Simply press (A) to enter it. Any Pikmin under your control will jump down with you, and any that are idle or working will return safely to their Onions.

Sublevels
The caves are split into several sublevels. The shortest cave has two sublevels; the longest has fifteen! Each sublevel usually has at least one treasure for you to find, and almost always one or more enemies. There are three types of sublevels. Every time you enter a sublevel, the game will save. So if you turn the game off then back on, you'll start over in the current sublevel you are on.The cave will always look slightly different when you restart the game.

Normal levels usually have a few harmful enemies, and sometimes don't have any treasure.

Rest levels either lack enemies or only have harmless enemies. A somewhat common exception to the "harmless enemy" rule is Doodlebugs or, in one case, Bulbmin. Rest levels have Pikmin-supporting items, such as nectar, Ultra-Bitter Spray, Ultra-spicy spray, or Candypop Buds.

Boss levels are usually the final level of a cave. The only cave without a boss level is Emergence Cave, and the one with the most is Hole of Heroes. They hold one large boss enemy, and maybe a few normal enemies, and this enemy, when defeated, often drops an item which upgrades Olimar/Louie's space suit or ship.

Cave Designs
There are a number of different cave designs.


 * Common cave design:The most commonly seen type of cave design that vary in size. Has plants, dirt floors and walls, and sometimes small pools of water.  Rocks, Eggs, and Bomb-rocks will occasionally fall from the cave ceiling.


 * Sand floor design: Perhaps the second most common cave design. The walls in these caves are concrete and the floor is sandy. A plant that commonly grows in this type of design is the shoot. This design can be disorienting for some because so much of the terrain looks the same, so without a good knowledge of where you've been one can easily get lost in a large sand floor sublevel like the Concrete Maze. Twice in Pikmin 2 there are sinkholes in these places that make fighting much more difficult.


 * Tile design:Another semi-common type of design. Tiles cover nearly the whole sub-level and many hazards are found on these types of design.  Wogpoles will sometimes fall from the cave ceiling.


 * Swamp design:The rarest type of cave design. Only 2 sublevels have this design in the whole game.  There is one in the Hole of Heroes and one in theDream Den.  There are many Shoots here.  Both times you come to sublevels with this type of design, you will land on a giant tree stump with a root that, when you walk down it, leads to a small piece of land, since these types of levels are mostly water.  Even though these level consist almost entirely of water, there are other hazardous enemies such as Fiery Blowhogs (keep in mind that there is not much where you can run and there is a Gatling Groink in the Dream Den swamp level).  You may encounter Wogpoles, Water Dumples, Wollywogs, and Jellyfloats here.


 * Boss design:These cave designs are the designs that appear on sub-levels where you fight bosses. Each one is different.


 * Outside design:This type of design appears as if you are outside. These type of design always has harmful enemies in them, save Mitites. These types can be found in cave such as the Snagret Hole and in Challenge Mode (Pikmin 2). (Note:The 2nd to last level in Challenge mode, the Sniper Room, is the only nighttime outdoor level.


 * Garden design:Slightly rare. These are rest areas with water not deep enough for pikmin to drown in, and enemies such as Mamutas, Skitter Leafs, and Unmarked Spectralids.


 * Battlefield Design

This type of sublevel is another common one that normally consists of Careening Dirigibug, Gatling Groinks or Lithopods. Bombs are the most common method of attack from enemies on these floors.By going over edges, pikmin can die on these floors. The first area that you can see a floor like this is the 1st sublevel of the White Flower Garden.


 * Toybox design:These cave designs are in caves such as Glutton's Kitchen and the Dream Den. These levels are often filled with giant toys and treasures that are used for food, entertainment, and office supplies.

Valley of Repose

 * Emergence Cave
 * Frontier Cavern
 * Subterranean Complex

Awakening Wood

 * Hole of Beasts
 * White Flower Garden
 * Bulblax Kingdom
 * Snagret Hole

Perplexing Pool

 * Citadel of Spiders
 * Glutton's Kitchen
 * Shower Room
 * Submerged Castle

Wistful Wild

 * Cavern of Chaos
 * Hole of Heroes
 * Dream Den

Merged Nothingness

 * The Oasis/Merged
 * Flooded Abyss/Merged
 * Ancient Forest/Merged
 * Bald Mountain/Merged
 * Dawn Lake/Merged
 * The Facility/Merged
 * The Wilderness/Merged
 * Olivert/Merged
 * Pit of Redemption(Challenge Mode)
 * Cave of no Return
 * Crystal Palace
 * Tower of Babil