In the frozen reaches of the Arctic ocean, where ships dare not venture for fear of icebergs, Dewgong are used as mounts. It is from the backs of Dewgong that fisherman seek valuable Shellder and baby Lapras, it is teams of Dewgong which pulled the sleds of the Arctic explorers who sought the north pole; in traditional Arctic warfare, they were even used as cavalry in place of Rapidash.

Despite this vast utility, Dewgong were never a very common pokemon. Even before the Seel fur boom, Dewgong fell frequently in battle and typically required years of harsh training to be replaced: few Seel ever became Dewgong. Their rarity was exacerbated by the lack of effective pokemon centers in the Arctic. With the decline in Seel populations due to overhunting, wars broke out over Seel breeding grounds, often killing and losing more Dewgong in battle than they would eventually gain, even when they fought other natives (and not soldiers from well-armed empires).

Today, as a result of the species' endangerment, access to Arctic Seel is tightly constrained by law. Each tribe is assigned a set quota of Seel which does not come close to allowing every trainer to have their own, and frequently they are not (as legally required) distributed by drawing lots, but monopolized by the chiefs and their friends and family. This has troubling implications for Arctic society, and it is feared it will lead to the formation of a hereditary aristocracy; then as now, those with Dewgong are on top, but now only a few can train Seel to begin with.