Pellet

A pellet is a crystallized chunk of nectar that contains vitamins and other nutrition. They are found on the top of Pellet Posies, and sometimes on the ground, though certain enemies can yield pellets as spoils upon death. Pellets are used to produce Pikmin, by bringing them to the Onion. There is one color of pellet per main Pikmin type, with few exceptions.

Pellets come in a variety of sizes, and a number is present atop each one, reflecting its weight. Pellets with the numbers 1, 5, 8, 10, and 20 exist, although 40-pellets can be seen in some prerelease footage, and some fanon games may have pellets with different numbers. If the color of the pellet matches the color of the Onion it is delivered to, that number of Pikmin is produced, the exception being the number 1, which creates two Pikmin. If not, only half that number, rounded up, will be ejected.

In Pikmin 2... Again?
Pellets return in Pikmin 2... Again?. Aside from 1-, 5-, and 10-pellets, 20-pellets make a return, and there is a new addition of the rainbow pellet and the 100-pellet. Rainbow pellets produce Pikmin of a random type when delivered to the Master Onion, but are otherwise identical to other pellets. In the Death Den, a 100-pellet can be seen up-close, but it is soon destroyed by the Mockwraith after it drops from the ceiling. While every Pikmin type has a respective color of pellet, some only appear in alternate game modes, those being purple, white, gray, pink, cyan, green, brown, black, and orange. The white pellet is notable for having a black numeral.