Despite a week of early play, Pokemon fans still don’t know how one Pokemon species evolves in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet…and that might be the point. Thanks to copies of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet leaking out over a week ago, most of the mysteries in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have already been solved. However, one weird mystery remains and it surrounds the evolution requirements for the strange stuffed animal-like Pokemon Tandemaus. First revealed (unofficially) in a trailer a few months ago, Tandemaus is a pair of yarn-knitted like Normal-type Pokemon. The Pokemon aren’t particularly impressive at first glance, but many players (including both ComicBook.com writers who obtained review copies of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet) were struck by how the Pokemon spontaneously evolves into Maushold without any sort of warning.ย
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Maushold is literally just Tandemaus with one or two additional mice, depending on the form. Players know that Tandemaus evolves into Maushold once it levels up to Level 25, but the Pokemon doesn’t trigger an evolution cutscene like other Pokemon. Based on the Pokedex entry for Maushold, this might be a deliberate feature. The Pokedex entry for the Family of Four form of Maushold reads: “The two little ones just appeared one day. The group might be a family of related Pokemon, but no one knows for sure.”ย
While Maushold isn’t a particularly strong Pokemon, it has a moveset and choice of Ability that could prove to be quite useful in competitive play. Maushold has the Friend Guard ability (which reduces damage done to allies) and the Technician hidden ability, which increases the power of low-power moves by 50%. A Technician Maushold using its signature Population Bomb move, which attacks an enemy 1-10 times at 20 base Power, suddenly makes this group of diminutive Pokemon look a lot tougher.ย
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now on the Nintendo Switch.
