Pawmi's skills at a variety of activities normally reserved for humans have made this pokemon, which is found only in Paldea in the wild, and is rare in other regions even as a pet, into an internet sensation. Yet the frequent photos of Pawmi in the Paldean wilderness (unlike their indoor counterparts) are not merely a matter of exercise, or of farming social media likes. Pawmi are too small and weak to win many battles, so they have instead developed an unusual method of growing stronger, evolving as the result of taking sufficient footsteps. Some families have sworn off Pawmi for this reason, preferring to import the exotic and ever-popular Pikachu; a Pawmo or Pawmot can be difficult to care for, and evolution is not always avoidable.
Confusingly, many scientists hold that Pawmi's 'evolution' is an illusion, an attempt to classify a life cycle more akin to human aging into three distinct forms; the names Pawmo and Pawmot are almost identical, and the 'I' sound of its youth can be dismissed as baby talk. In this scheme, which flies in the face of everything known about pokemon biology, but remains frustratingly difficult to dismiss, Pawmi do not evolve so much as stand up, and their extensive walking as Pawmi strengthens their hind legs until they can support their entire bodies.
Evolution of a Pawmi can not be prevented – at least not without an expensive everstone - only delayed. Yet these newly evolved Pawmo are, if nothing else, capable of watching (among many other things) the reactions of their former trainers, and rarely struggle to fend for themselves in the wild.