Pikmin 4 – How to Find and Unlock the White and Purple Onions

There’s no other series quite like Pikmin. The series’ unique combination of strategy, time management, and exploration can be tough to get your head around, and Pikmin 4 in particular gives players lots to think about. Spawning lots of Pikmin is key to success, which means you’ll want to collect all the “Onions” in the game. Once you’ve collected one of these veggie-shaped pods, you’ll be able to sprout all the Pikmin of the associated color your want by feeding it pellets and enemy corpses.

As you work through the main campaign you’ll find Red, Yellow, Blue, Ice, Rock, and Pink Onions, but what about the White and Purple Onions? Those aren’t found in any of the standard stages or their associated caves. So… where are they? Are they even in the game? The answer is yes, but unlocking them in a bit of a process. But you don’t have to figure all that out — we’ve got all the steps for you, below.

WARNING: While this article doesn’t get into a lot of story specifics, it does contain some SPOILERS for Pikmin 4.

Step 1 – You’ll need to defeat Olimar in a Dandori battle in Stage 4 (Hero’s Hideway)

• Once you’ve defeated Olimar, take him back to your base, then cure him of his leafy affliction. This will unlock a new mode.

Step 2 – Beat Olimar’s Shipwreck Tale

• Unlocked after you defeat Olimar, this is essentially an “old-school” take on Pikmin. You’ll control Olimar and have a strict 15-day time limit to collect 30 parts for his ship. It’s a tricky challenge, but you can do it!

Step 3 – Jump into the Trial of the Sage Leaf

• Finishing up Olimar’s Shipwreck Tale will open up the Trial of the Sage Leaf cave, which can be accessed from your home base. This is a particularly challenging cave, consisting of 10 sublevels, each of which comes with a fairly strict time limit.

Step 4 – Complete Trial of the Sage Leaf Sublevel 5

• Make it to sublevel 5. Collect all the billiard balls contained within the sublevel in the time limit, and you’ll get access to the White Onion.

Step 5 – Complete Trial of the Sage Leaf Sublevel 6

• Make it to sublevel 10. Proceed through this maze-like final level while avoiding (or defeating) the creepy Waterwraith boss.

And there you have it, all the Onions acquired! This is largely for bragging rights, although there are a few treasures you’ll only be able to retrieve with a large number of Purple Pikmin, and having lots of the poisonous little White Pikmin around can be helpful.

Pikmin 4 is available now on Nintendo Switch. You can check out Wccftech’s Pikmin 4 guides here and our full review here.