The annually molted blade feathers of a Skarmory's wings have often been described as natural swords, for when placed in a soldier's hands and given a hilt, they work as well as the artificial kind. Because of this, Skarmory feathers were prized as a source of weaponry in many lands without access to significant metal reserves, from the dawn of the Iron Age until the era when gunpowder finally replaced swords in warfare.
Skarmory typically live in remote areas which in that era were far from any nation's real authority, and when multiple armies came to claim them, the Skarmory usually flew away in the chaos. This gave the impetus for the Skarmory Sword Challenge, a competition where champions from each interested nation would face off in an effort to win these coveted blades. And it was a challenge – for if the champions themselves did not kill each other, stealing feathers from a Skarmory was no easy task either, even with their pokemon.
Skarmory nest on hazardous cliffs and mountaintops which are never too accessible for climbers. They cover the approaches to their nests with long arrays of Spikes and Stealth Rocks, as much to toughen up their chicks' defenses as for any real protection. The Skarmory, despite their new steel coats, are hazards in themselves, for they spend the competition spitting old feathers from their beaks at the contestants or attempting to blow them into the sea with their wings.
If any survive long enough to reach the Skarmory's sword-covered nest, they will find more than an armory there, for Skarmory are all too glad to be trained by those who have proven their strength and courage. Today, it is the Skarmory, not their feathers, that are the real prize of this contest.
