Pokitaru

Pokitaru is a planet in the Solana Galaxy featured in Ratchet & Clank and Size Matters. It is a small, tropical world filled with oceans and islands, and most notably home to the Jowai Resort, a very popular galactic tourist destination. It was also a destination to find Raritanium.

Ratchet and Clank first came to Jowai Resort in search of an O2 Mask that was given to tourists for them to swim underwater. Once they arrived, they found the planet was under attack by the blarg dumping toxic waste into the ocean, and could only obtain a mask by destroying the blarg. The toxic waste had also made it impossible to obtain Raritanium. Later, the two visited Pokitaru on vacation, before being visited by Luna, who claimed to be researching on the two heroes for a school project.

Ratchet & Clank
Clank found an infobot with a commercial for Jowai Resort on planet Orxon, and reluctantly showed it to Ratchet. After an argument, the two agreed to visit the planet in search of the advertised O2 Mask. Once they arrived, they found the Resort Owner from the commercial, who claimed he had ran out of O2 Masks, and would only give them another if they destroyed the Blarg Dumpers polluting the waters. The two then escorted him to the hangar bay with a Jet Fighter.

Once they arrived at the bay, the resort owner claimed he could not access the lock, and pointed them instead to Bob's roboshack. There, they purchased the Thruster Pack upgrade for Clank for 2,000 bolts, allowing them to access the lock and use the Jet Fighter. With the Pilot's Helmet, Ratchet could then pilot the fighter and destroy the Blarg Dumpers, earning him the O2 Mask.

The two were also able to teleport to the sewers of the planet, infested with amoeboids. Here, they found Fred, who had been searching the planet for Raritanium, which he could not find due to the blarg's toxic dump. Fred was in possession of the Persuader, a gadget that had been designed to mind control people but that he could only use to obtain a discount at Gadgetron vendors. After finding Raritanium on Hoven, the two gave him Raritanium to use the Persuader.

After Ratchet & Clank
Captain Qwark attempted to hide on Pokitaru during his Personal Hygenator Syndrome scandal. He was instead found and arrested. Qwark is known to have frequently visited Pokitaru on other occasions.

Size Matters
Ratchet and Clank took a vacation in Jowai Resort, before it was interrupted by Luna, who claimed to be doing research on heroes for her school project. At her request, the two took a look around the island and fought robots for her to use in pictures. Eventually, she was kidnapped by mysterious robots, which Clank identified as Technomites, but Ratchet believed did not exist. Nonetheless, the two along with Qwark traveled to Kalidon, where the robots appeared to be going, to rescue Luna.

When Ratchet and Clank revisited the planet, they were unable to explore the water, as it was filled instead with Pool Sharks. The island was also home to deadly Shuttle Crabs and Vacationing Robots that attacked them.

Geography
Pokitaru has a tropical climate with warm sunny weather year round, and is made up of oceans with several islands. The resort owner claimed the planet has sunshine 24 hours a day. The island is also home to harmless seagulls. When toxic waste was dumped in the planet by the blarg, many of the wildlife mutated and became deadly.

Behind the scenes
An early version of Pokitaru was one of two levels showcased to Sony while seeking the greenlight for Ratchet & Clank, shown as the "'Jungle' Diorama" along with Kerwan's "'Metropolis' Diorama" in the same presentation, before an engine had been developed.

Pokitaru is likely inspired by Hawaii. It has similar tropical temperatures, islands, is a tourist destination, and has a similar name in "Jowai" Resort.

Pokitaru was originally going to feature a three-headed hydra, a large, seafaring predator native to Pokitaru with four flippers and three heads. This was originally going to be fought as a boss battle as a dangerous wild creature, but was cut from the game and featured instead in the Insomniac Museum in Going Commando.