Back when men fought with sword and shield, the most common among the shields were those made from Sandslash. Once a year, a Sandslash sheds its skin and the spikes left behind are gathered by skilled artisans which carve them into shields of the same texture.
Sandshrew exist in many places in the wild, but only on Route 23 do they commonly appear as Sandslash. This fact allowed the Indigo League to extend its dominance as far south as Pallet Town even back in the warring states' era, although it would be after Sandslash shields were left behind by technology that it gained its present mastery over Kanto and Johto.
A Sandslash shield could be used for attack and defense – it is made from the same tough coating as the rest of a Sandslash's skin, and the numerous spikes make it far too easy for a sword to get stuck, allowing valuable time for a counter-attack. When bashed into the enemy, it both bludgeons and stabs: a well-placed strike could be fatal. These shields, however, struggled to combat the advent of cavalry armies and were made obsolete by rifles, which fire bullets with more force than a Sandslash can block.
In the popular tabletop RPG Dungeons and Dragonite, Sandslash shields add a +2 to armor class and deal 1d4 damage.
