Changing woocommerce pagination structure - php

Question

I have searched all over for solutions, but I can't find one that actually helps me.
On my store, when you hover over a woocommerce pagination link, the pagination format looks like this: mycategory/page/2.
However, once you click on it the URL in the address bar shows mycategory/?_paged=2.
(It almost seems as if the one redirects to the other, which means the way the pagination is linked needs to change.)
I want the pagination to be linked the same as the actual pagination URLs (mycategory/?_paged=2)
I have searched through the woocommerce template files but I can't figure out how to change it. I think it must be changed in this code, but I can't seem to figure it out. Is it the $format variable that needs to be edited?
$total = isset( $total ) ? $total : wc_get_loop_prop( 'total_pages' );
$current = isset( $current ) ? $current : wc_get_loop_prop( 'current_page' );
$base = isset( $base ) ? $base : esc_url_raw( str_replace( 999999999, '%#%', remove_query_arg( 'add-to-cart', get_pagenum_link( 999999999, false ) ) ) );
$format = isset( $format ) ? $format : '';
if ( $total <= 1 ) {
return;
}
?>
<nav class="woocommerce-pagination">
<?php
echo paginate_links(
apply_filters(
'woocommerce_pagination_args',
array( // WPCS: XSS ok.
'base' => $base,
'format' => $format,
'add_args' => false,
'current' => max( 1, $current ),
'total' => $total,
'prev_text' => '←',
'next_text' => '→',
'type' => 'list',
'end_size' => 3,
'mid_size' => 3,
)
)
);
?>
</nav>