How To Find Pascal Guide -- Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Pascal is a friendly red sea otter added to Animal Crossing: New Horizons after wave one of its summer update went live in early July. Pascal will trade you mermaid DIY recipes and clothing items in exchange for scallops you find while swimming and diving. He can also gift you pearls, a rare crafting item required for DIY-ing the new mermaid set. Pascal will only visit under certain conditions. Here's how to get Pascal to come to your island and what to do if Pascal is not showing up.

How To Find Pascal

You can find Pascal while swimming and diving in your island's oceans. If you don't know how to do either yet, you can check out our Animal Crossing swimming guide for more detailed instructions. The most important thing you need to make sure you do is get a wet suit. Then you can get into the water, which is the first step towards finding Pascal.

Once you're in the water and start diving for sea creatures, Pascal will eventually appear, but only when you find a scallop. He won't appear every time you catch a scallop or even the first time--it's random, but he will only appear once a day. He can appear on your island alongside other special visitors too.

When Pascal does approach you, he'll ask you for the scallop you just found. If you choose to give it to him, he'll reward you with either a mermaid-themed DIY recipe, a mermaid clothing item, or a pearl. He'll also say something philosophical before swimming off to the other side of the ocean barrier, where you can't approach him or speak to him until the next encounter.

Pascal Not Showing Up

If you find a scallop and Pascal is not showing up, don't panic yet. He might not show up on your first scallop at all, and you might not even see him until you find a few more scallops. If you keep diving and keep finding scallops though, he is guaranteed to show up once a day. You just have to keep looking. Some players report not seeing Pascal after catching over a dozen scallops, so be patient.

If he still isn't showing up after catching that many, however, something else may be wrong. Always make sure your airport gates are closed when diving for scallops. Pascal will not show up if your island is open to visitors. If that still doesn't work, make sure your game is updated to the latest version.

What To Do With Pearls

Pascal may gift you a pearl, which is a rare crafting material that will come in handy for crafting furnishings in the mermaid set, which Pascal offers DIY recipes for in exchange for scallops. You can also find pearls while diving for sea creatures. Learn more about pearls in our guide on how to get more pearls.

Should You Save Up Scallops For Pascal?

Scallops count as one of the new sea creatures you can find and donate to the museum, and you can also sell them to Nook's Cranny for 1,200 bells. There's no real reason to save up scallops to trade with Pascal, because he will only offer to trade when you find one, and you can only trade one at a time, once per day.