Despite the numerous ranged attacks which most pokemon know, the distance between combatants typically is of little concern to a pokemon trainer's strategies. Although the massive battles of old, fought by warlords, involved advanced tactical calculations, a one-on-one match on a regulation battlefield typically sees these distinctions abstracted away. Most pokemon are large or fast enough to close any gap between foes quickly, and ranged attacks are typically too inaccurate to be viable over long distances.
But a regulation battlefield is of significant size, both to accommodate spectators at the arenas of the Pokemon League and to allow skilled pokemon to take any available edge – and few are better at this than the Clauncher. A Clauncher's pistol-like pincers can shoot jets of water the length of an arena with pinpoint accuracy, and the unevolved pokemon they typically battle against often take many hits before they are able to approach them. Some trainers go so far as to practice hurling their poke balls across the field, so as to release their pokemon close to the enemy Clauncher and avoid giving them free attacks. But many Clauncher are able to counter this strategy, for a well-timed water gun frequently manages to open their foe's pokeballs well before they land.
Once the distance between foes is closed, however, Clauncher often struggle to win matches against foes not seriously wounded from the initial water guns. Often they will attempt to hide while attacking, as they do in the wild, but the smooth grass or dirt of most pokemon battlefields offers them few shields, and they lack the speed to continue strafing until victory. Some have even suggested that defeating a Clauncher is as simple as closing the gap between pokemon, but a point blank water gun hurts even more than one from afar.