Pons
Pons are a group of the most common collectible type in A Hat in Time, as can be found in every Chapter, serving many functions depending on their color and what they contain, either as a form of currency used by the inhabitants of the planet for things like goods, to a healing item, to even a progression item for certain stages.
The defining trait of a Pon is their capsule-shaped design, with one half clear and the other tinted to that pon's dominant color, as well as having what is contained inside the pon change with the type it represents. There are several different color variations of a normal Pon, indicating its use in the game.
They are often found scattered around the various Chapters, out in the open waiting for Hat Kid to make contact with them for pick-up. They can also emerge from special objects such as vaults, chests, attackable Time Rifts at the end of purple time rifts, enemies, and most destructible objects with the Brewing Hat. All pons respawn when Hat Kid enters a chapter, making their supply infinite.
Pons
A Pon 
is most commonly found type, being used as the game's primary source of currency to make purchases with the Badge Seller across the various Chapters, the Restaurants and the Metro Cat vendors of Nyakuza Metro. Besides being used with vendors, Hat Kid can purchase stands within the Spaceship to place and complete new Relics, or for unlocking some Acts.
In the Spaceship, there is a large counter showing the quantity of green Pons currently possessed by the player, though it doesn't count correctly after achieving more than x9999 .
Heart Pons
A Heart Pon 
is a more uncommon version of the pon, found frequently across the various chapters in lesser abundance than their green counterpart. They are colored pink and hold a heart inside them. They are used to replenish the health of Hat Kid after she has taken any damage, refilling a single hit for each Heart Pon collected when a hit in the counter is empty.
Heart Pons always drops from crates if the player is missing health, if playing Co-Op the player who collect the heart will remain on the player for a few seconds and can be used by their Co-Op partner or other players in Online Party.
Rift Pons
A Rift Pon 
is a type of pon that are exclusive to Purple Time Rifts, where they have golden hue, a crown inside, and a large radiance around the pon to help spot it from a distance. They can be collected like any normal pon, where they are tallied at the bottom of the screen separate from where they are used to get to the next floor of the Purple Rift by paying the toll for the pipe from the current floor. Unlike green pons, Rift Pons are lost when the player reaches the end of the Time Rift, even if they have spare.
Energy Pons
An Energy Pons 
is a very rare type of pon, only found currently within the Pink Paw Manhole of Nyakuza Metro. They are blue, contain a simple lightning bolt, and have a blue stream of electricity which flows through itself to adjacent pons that are visible from quite a distance away.
In a manner similar to Rift Pons, Energy Pons are tallied to the bottom right corner of the screen where they fill a progress bar. Once the player has collected the designated amount of these Pons, an event will occur, often related to opening the path towards the Time Piece or allowing access to the Time Piece itself.
Another similarity to Rift Pons is that there is often a surplus of Energy Pons than that needed to be collected, which is apparent in the second portion of the Pink Paw Manhole section. Collecting the spare Energy Pons after this point has no effect other than collecting the pon and increasing no extra tally.
Gallery
Two green pons.
Two heart pons.
A rift pon.
The radiant effect of a rift pon from a long distance.
A chain of three energy pons, connected by harmless electricity.
Green pon illustration.
Ditto.
Heart pon illustration.
Rift pon illustration.
Trivia
- The name “pon” is probably derived from “Gashapon” or “Gachapon”, two brands of Capsule toys sold in Japan. In the names of those brands, “pon” is an onomatopoeia mimicking the sound of a capsule landing in the collection tray.
- In Dead Bird Studios, the various actions which increase the cost of Hat Kid's ticket are counted in Pons.
- In Hat Kid's Spaceship, the Gallery has a painting depicting the green, heart and rift pons.
- Rift Pons borrow their design from a scrapped Pon type called EXP Pons. These likely were going to be used to grant experience points to Hat Kid, unfortunately though, the Data for EXP Pons was removed some time after release.
- In prereleases the Pons used to be Red and Blue Orbs with a white swirl in them. However, their design changed some time before the beta.
