In ancient and early medieval Kalos, the region's many rivers and long coastline made it a tempting target for raids. The Vikings were only the last and most fearsome of a long tradition of ocean-borne pirates, who used naval supremacy to extort vast sums from cities in tribute and sailed away far faster than the ruler's armies could march; should they be forced to give battle against anything less than a much larger army, they would more often than not triumph.
In this era, it was a common saying among the vikings that a Clawitzer was more dangerous than a king, for although these pokemon are harmless unless provoked, it is easy for a large longboat to fail to notice these pokemon, for Clawitzer are relatively small and share a color with the sea; should any Clawitzer take offense, they swim faster than longboats sail and can sink them with their powerful water attacks in a single shot.
One King of Kalos had been reduced to dire straits in this era by the predation of viking piracy, and had been forced to resort to hiring large, often lawless bands of viking mercenaries simply to protect the realm from other viking warriors. He had also experimented with using many water pokemon in this era to protect the region's rivers, for the boats known to Kalos in this period were of little use in combat; when he heard his mercenaries mention Clawitzer, it was all the information he needed to take these pokemon into his service.
Today, the Clawitzer population of Kalos is typically viewed as a trading hazard, for even modern boats struggle to repel them, but there are still many who remember the age when these proud pokemon ended the scourge of the northmen.
