Kingambit

I was always of the opinion that Pawniard is a more appealing Pokemon than Bisharp. Now, I have to say Bisharp is a more appealing Pokemon than Kingambit. The new evolution has some interesting facets I suppose, the giant knife crest and sword blade "mustache" giving it a more beetle-like appearance, and its four bladed rib things look even more like they can snap shut and trap prey. The face, however, looks completely like a human wearing a samurai helmet, which is a downgrade from the more creaturelike appearance of its predecessors, and then there's the "hair." It has a black hair piece so huge that it curls down into a "throne" the Pokemon sits on, and personally I think that's just too much clutter. There's also the fact that they didn't bother animating this Pokemon ever actually using its legs. In Scarlet and Violet, Kingambit is animated just gliding around like its hair is also a hoverchair, which I'm sorry to say looks bad.

What bugs me about this and some other Pokemon evolutions however is the sense that this "replaces" Bisharp. You know what I mean? Bisharp was the end of this Pokemon line for many years, but now it will always be regarded as an "unfinished" or "immature" creature. Kingambit is supposed to be fairly rare, and commands packs of Pawniard and Bisharp who will only evolve into another Kingambit themselves if they climb high enough in their hierarchy, but it still feels like this sets a new standard for what Pawniard is "supposed" to "grow up" into, yeah? And Bisharp was already a GOOD Pokemon, too; it didn't need to be any stronger! Kingambit even gets a unique ability, Supreme Overlord, which boosts its offensive stats for every fainted team member, not unlike Houndstone's "Last Respects" signature move.

I guess I'm saying this Pokemon's entire existence is sort of overkill, and I don't personally like the idea that the "most mature" form of a species is also supposed to be an unusual and special "king," even if admittedly that's not too far from how some real animals work. I'd like it better if this were, at the very least, part of a split evolution path, where the other is a more straightforward Bisharp upgrade; the king's elite right-hand bodyguard, or something.

One thing I can say I'm grateful for, at least, is that this Pokemon isn't gender-locked, so you can just as easily have a brooding swordstache warrior queen. In fact, I'm gonna say that earns it a whole extra Pokeball.