Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are all about the new collection of Pokémon to catch, themed after the Spain-inspired Paldea region. In traditional Pokémon fashion, the three starters Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly are built around their respective elemental type: Grass, Fire, and Water. However, venturing beyond the opening area of Cabo Poco will quickly introduce you to a number of new Pokémon that you can battle and catch in your journeys, allowing you to quickly come into contact with all 18 types and fill out your party of up to six creatures as you choose.

One of the new Pokémon introduced in this latest iteration of the long-running video game series is called Pawmi, and you can easily miss it while running through the grassy plains of the South Province if you don’t look too closely.

Pawmi and its first evolution, Pawmo, is an Electric-type “Mouse Pokémon” not dissimilar to Pikachu. Unlike a few of the other Pokémon you might run into during the opening section of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, Pawmi is able to evolve into its second and third tier (Pawmo and Pawmot) relatively early on in the story–making it a powerful contender if you’re willing to go through the short and uncomplicated process of evolving your Pawmi into a Pawmo, and finally into a Pawmot.

Catching a Pawmi

Pawmi are generally not too difficult to find in the southern parts of the map near Cabo Poco and Mesagoza. However, you’ll have to look closely since these critters really are as mouselike in their figure as described in the Pokédex. They’re extremely small, making them difficult to see if you’re not paying close attention, and they do tend to hang out in grassy areas rather far from the main roads.

Once you engage in battle with a Pawmi, you can throw Pokéballs until you’ve successfully captured one. Congratulations on catching your first Pawmi!

Evolving Pawmi into Pawmo

Once you’ve caught your first Pawmi, you can easily evolve it into a Pawmo by leveling it up to level 18. This is pretty simple, just keep fighting and catching Pokémon in the wild, using the Auto Battle system, approaching Trainers to engage in battles, and completing Tera Raids to quickly earn lots of XP candies.

Having Pawmi in the front of your party is a good idea even if you plan to use other Pokémon to complete your battles since Pawmi will still get a boost to XP gain at the end of each battle.

Evolving Pawmo into Pawmot

The third and final version of Pawmi and Pawmo is the highly useful Pawmot, who has the unique ability to resurrect fallen Pokémon in team battles with the move Revival Blessing, and is the only character in the game able to use the powerful offensive Double Shock move. Called the “Hands-On Pokémon,” Pawmot is described as being able to absorb the same amount of electricity as an electric car battery–and is equally capable of dispersing that stored energy through Electric-type moves that can either heal or cause great damage.

Evolving Pawmo into Pawmot is a bit trickier than just leveling it up. Instead, you’ll need to use the Let’s Go feature to call Pawmo into the field while Pawmo sits at the head of your party. Then, you’ll need to run 1,000 steps with Pawmo out of its ball, running alongside you. After that, you’ll need to level your Pawmo up at least once, though this needs to take place during a battle or through the use of XP candies.

There’s a bit of a catch here, in that Pawmo’s steps toward evolution aren’t tracked if you send it out using the Auto Battle button (that’s the R button, or the right bumper if you’re so inclined!). You’ll specifically need to call it out using Let’s Go, which is the ZR button or the right trigger. Also, you should make sure that you don’t run too far ahead of it, or it’ll automatically get called back to its ball and you’ll need to send it back out again. Other than that, you shouldn’t need to waste more than a half-hour running around before Pawmo evolves into Pawmot.

Congratulations on having such a powerful Pokémon in your party so early on! Pokémon Scarlet & Violet are decently long RPGs, which means you might not be sure what to do next. Linked here are some tips on how to approach the open-world campaign including Victory Road, Starfall Street, and Titan Abilities.