Although the Carracosta have been extinct for 100 million years, evolution is not purely an arms race, for mass extinctions and the need to find food have wiped out a great many species; conversely, weaker species who are able to breed quickly and feast on plant life have survived despite rarely winning a pokemon battle. Once resurrected from extinction, the Carracosta have made even Salamence or Garchomp tremble with their raw destructive power.
The heavy shell of the Carracosta has been compared to a knight's armor, but weighted clothing might be an equally apt comparison, for what they gain in defense is lost in power and speed. It is when these pokemon's shells are damaged that they truly shine; a Carracosta with no shell may be a glass cannon, but this is of little consequence when they outpace and knock out all their foes in a single attack.
The first Carracosta trainers removed their pokemon's shells outright before battles or whittled them to far less weight than their natural size. This tactic became a victim of its own success, for after these pokemon led their trainers to three straight Unovan championships, this method of preparation, which had begun to spread to other heavy-shelled pokemon like Cloyster, was declared illegal. Ostensibly this rule was made for the health of the pokemon who sacrificed their shells for battle, but evidence suggests that concern over the Carracosta's new-found dominance was an equally great motivator. Today, many heavy-shelled pokemon, Carracosta among them, have worked around this rule by using a legal technique from 100 million years ago – for far from treasuring their shells, the Carracosta were known to have at times intentionally damaged them, like their champion trainers, to bolster their own power.