A Pawmo's electrified thrusts are every bit the equal of Hitmonchan's – except, of course, for the fact that they would struggle to reach a Hitmonchan's knee. Pawmo's notorious techniques evolved for self-defense; these pokemon have long survived in the wild by stunning their opponents' feet with their front paws and then scampering away.
Under human control, these pokemon are notoriously dirty fighters, who have taken the 'low blow' to an art form; lacking the strength to knock out much larger pokemon, they spend pokemon battles trying to quite literally topple them instead. Pokemon battles, after all, are a team sport, and a prone, often paralyzed foe is often easy prey for a teammate. Fliers can be zapped out of the air, but sturdy quadrupeds have been known to often give the Pawmo trouble – provided, that is, that they can handle fighting moves to begin with.
No league or tournament – from the 1-on-1 fighting-type exclusive P-1 Grand Prix to the mighty Paldean League – is known to ban Pawmo, for these pokemon are small, weak, and not fully evolved; legislating against them would make any league that did so a laughingstock. Pokemon trainers, accustomed to thinking in terms of hit points as applying to pokemon as a whole, not specific body parts, are no less frustrated when they encounter one in battle; what both Pawmo users and non-trainers consider a cute smile is easily re-interpreted, when shown during a match, as a devilish grin.
Yet dirty or not, the idea of a small rodent toppling much larger foes has made Pawmo something of a surprising fan favorite; ex-trainers may seethe, students of the game may join them, but there is no denying the size of the crowds whenever a Pawmo makes a deep tournament run.