To the untrained eye, the sight of Veluza skins washed up on Paldean beaches is a gruesome one, like what one might encounter in the aftermath of a massacre. But no Gyarados or other terrifying sea pokemon is responsible for this phenomenon, except perhaps indirectly, through long-ago evolutionary pressure. Veluza shed their skins as readily as Metapod or Dratini, although perhaps techniques like Shell Smash or Belly Drum make for better comparisons to what they're actually doing; they discard their armored exterior to strike their opponents with ferocious speed and force, and would dominate the Paldean League if they did not need that armor to endure even the weakest attacks.

The scales which protect Veluza do not only serve the pokemon who grow them. The portions which cover their joints are edible, and many aquatic pokemon consider them delicious; they are also a staple of Paldean seafood. The harder scales have a consistency similar to bone, and have been used since the Mousterian period as a material for tools and musical instruments. Early farmers in the region saw the potential in turning those Veluza scales they could not use or sell off into fertilizer, and in the medieval period, they made for remarkably flashy and spiky suits of armor.

Veluza remain incredibly important to the economies of beachside communities, and fears of fishing boats killing these pokemon to harvest their scales inspired much of the region's environmental movement. Early Paldean explorers did not realize that related pokemon were not nearly so useful – nor so harmless to humans. The decision to set up a colony in Sharpedo-infested waters did not lead to a prosperous settlement, but to tragedy and rapid abandonment, once it became clear that the "West Seas Veluza" was nothing like its Paldean counterpart.