Pets

Pets (ペット, Petto) is a minigame in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. Successfully raising pets through their full life cycle will reward the player with both skills and trophies.

Gameplay
Throughout Danganronpa 2, the player will have a virtual pet that will be accessible through their e-Handbook. It is similar to a Tamagotchi. There are a total of six unique pets that the player can acquire.

The four stages of a pet are:

After hatching from its egg into a Chibimi, your pet will accumulate Hope and Despair depending on your actions. Which pet evolves from Chibimi's cocoon form is determined by Chibimi's Hope and Despair levels prior to entering its cocoon. If a pet accumulates 10 points of Despair at any evolution it will die, and it will take another 2,000 steps to get a new egg.

Hope is raised by 1 point every time you give your pet a present. Pets have no preference for gifts - all gifts will have the same effect - so the cheapest gift to give your pet is Mineral Water, which can be purchased from the Vending Machine in Rocketpunch Market for 1 Monocoin. Hope will never decrease, no matter how much Despair accumulates.

Every 100 steps, your pet will poop. If you do not clean up after your pet, your pet's Despair will gradually increase. Despair will be lowered every time you give your pet a gift.

Keeping a pet alive for 2,000 steps after reaching adulthood will give the player rewards. You will receive an amount of Monokuma coins, 1-2 items and exp equal to approx 1-2 levels. Successfully raising Monokuma and Monomi for the first time will grant the player a skill.

Guide
If you are aiming to evolve a specific pet, the general rule is to give your pet enough presents to reach the necessary Hope level as soon as it hatches, because the Hope level will never decrease. After this point, you will only need to manage cleaning your pet often enough to keep it alive. If your Chibimi's Despair raises above 10, it will die, forcing you to start over with a new egg - this is a particular risk factor when trying to raise a Monokuma pet. Try to avoid giving your pet additional presents unless it is at risk of dying, as your Hope level may raise too high and you may receive the wrong pet.

After your pet has evolved, make sure to clean diligently to ensure your pet survives the additional steps needed to reach its ending stage and grant your reward. If your evolved pet's Despair raises above 10, it will die, leaving you no reward and forcing you to start over with a new egg. The only exception to this rule is Monokuma, which will not die no matter how high its Despair level becomes.

Walking is the most efficient method of raising your step count because running gives less steps per minute total, despite moving faster. Only walking and running using the joystick register as steps taken on your Pet pedometer - movement done via the map, or quick-running between areas using the directional buttons, do not register as any steps taken.

Trivia

 * The trophy Gotta Raise 'Em All! is a reference to the popular franchise's tagline Gotta Catch 'Em All!.