| Pikmin Pluck | |
|---|---|
 Olimar, pulling Pikmin out of the ground. Note that he can pull them from surfaces besides soil, including the hulls of ships and even platforms. | |
| User | Olimar |
| Universe | Pikmin |
Pikmin Pluck, (ピクミンを引っこ抜く Pikumin o Hikkonuku, Yank Out Pikmin), is Olimar's neutral special move, and is often considered to be his most important move. This move involves Captain Olimar quickly pulling a random Pikmin out of the ground. What type of terrain where this move is used has some influence on what type of Pikmin will be pulled out more often. Olimar can have up to 6 Pikmin following him. This works by rapidly pressing the special button, if there no oppenents attack him. Olimar can't pluck anymore Pikmin once the special button is pressed, unless one or more Pikmin are gone.
Care should be taken especially to not use Pikmin Pluck when on the very edge of a stage facing in, which will result in all Pikmin plucked tumbling off the ledge to their deaths, unless one uses Pikmin Order shortly afterwards (there is a brief period of unresponsiveness from Pikmin after they are plucked, which ends when they touch the floor or after they drop below it) to call them back to Olimar. Also, careless throwing of Pikmin at airborne opponents off the cliff will result in the death of any Pikmin that miss the mark.
This is the only move that Kirby is unable to copy perfectly. Instead, Kirby combines Pikmin Pluck with Pikmin Throw. The Pikmin that Kirby creates are chucked forwards, collide with opponents, do damage based on colour (Red 1%, Yellow 2%, Blue 3%, Purple 4%, White 5%), and die immediately after landing. [1]
Description from the Instruction Booklet
Recruit Pikmin to help by plucking them from the ground. You can only have six at a time.
Origin
In Pikmin and Pikmin 2, after sowing the Pikmin seeds, Olimar would be able to pick them immediately, or wait for their flowers to bloom to have Pikmin that were stronger and faster than leafed Pikmin. This ability is reflected in Super Smash Bros. Brawl by a certain mechanic where Pikmin that have been with Olimar longer change the vegetation on their stem. It is possible to determine how long Olimar has had a given Pikmin by the vegetation on its head; a leaf signifies a new to fairly new Pikmin, a bud shows that a Pikmin has been with Olimar for some time, and a flower on a Pikmin's head means that it has been with Olimar for a long while.
In Pikmin, Olimar may have up to a hundred Pikmin following him.
Notes
- If Pikmin Pluck is used near a ledge (one that results in a death), only White and Purple Pikmin will land on the stage, while the red, blue, and yellow Pikmin fall off. This strategy is good if one is wanting those two types only. If the player gets slightly closer to the ledge, only white pikmin will survive, while if they go too far, all of the Pikmin will fall.
- A continuous stream of plucked Pikmin can be used to "fill up" Cook Kirby's pot, creating huge numbers of items. Not only is this useful for team Brawls, but also if Captain Olimar is against Kirby; he can stop himself from being pulled in, so once the pot contains the maximum of 30 objects, the Final Smash will end and Olimar will remain unharmed.
- The Pikmin color ratios vary based on the platform type that Olimar is standing on while plucking them. (An incomplete listing can be found here.)
