On February 27, 2022, Nintendo announced Pokémon Scarlet & Violet for the Switch. Fans have been hoping for a Nintendo Direct in April or June to give fresh info, including some legendaries and potential starter evolutions.
While the starters usually evolve at level 36, other Pokémon throughout the series have had evolutions in the 40s, 50s, and even 60s. These late evolutions are usually indicative of a Pokémon's power or stature, but sometimes their late power-ups can make the evolution line difficult to use in the story.
Bisharp
Bisharp is a powerful Dark/Steel Pokémon both in-game and competitively. Bisharp evolves from the lowly Pawniard at level 52.
Players who want to use Bisharp in the games may struggle heavily with Pawniard from around level 40 onward, but once it evolves, the Pokémon will be a powerhouse for the remainder of the playthrough. Competitive players choosing Bisharp will be fans of its powerful move pool that includes staple moves like Knock Off.
Lunala
Lillie and Lunala are one of the best Pokémon/trainer pairs in the series. Lunala evolves from the relatively useless Cosmoem at Level 53 in Pokémon Moon.
If players grab a Cosmog, the adventure of leveling the baby legendary will come in the post-game, meaning players won't feel the impact of having a weaker Pokémon in their party. However, there are diminishing returns to having 2 Lunala, so players' best bet is to transfer their Cosmoem to a player with Pokémon Sun and have them trade it back as a Solgaleo when it hits 53.
Solgaleo
Interestingly, Solgaleo and Lunala are to date the only Pokémon "box art" legendaries that evolve. If the player has Pokémon Sun, their Cosmoem will become a Solgaleo at level 53.
The post-game has plenty of options to level up Pokémon, so it will be relatively painless to raise up Cosmog into Cosmoem. However, there are diminishing returns to having 2 Solgaleo, so players' best bet is to transfer their Cosmoem to a player with Pokémon Moon and have them trade it back as a Lunala when it hits 53.
Mandibuzz
The all-female vulture Pokémon, Vullaby, evolves into Mandibuzz at the surprisingly high level of 54.
Pokémon Black and White are famous for having outrageously high-level evolution points, and Vullaby is no exception. For a basic Pokémon, Vullaby becomes ridiculously understated by level 40. Players will struggle to utilize it until it becomes a Mandibuzz, and which point it's a powerful defensive threat with great utility moves like defog.
Braviary/Hisuian Braviary
The all-male eagle Pokémon Rufflet evolves into Braviary at level 54, similar to its counterpart in Vullaby.
Hisuian Braviary is also one of the cooler regional Pokémon variants out there, and Rufflet also evolves into its alternate form at the exact same level. Both Braviary and its Hisuian form are offensive powerhouses who admittedly suffer in the defensive department. Eaglet can hold up until opponent NPCs start evolving, but the reward is a powerful glass cannon later on.
Tyranitar
Pupitar is an incredibly weak Pokémon that eventually evolves into the monstrous Tyranitar at level 55.
Since the vast majority of legendaries don't evolve, pseudo-legendaries like Tyranitar make up the bulk of later evolutions. Pupitar won't be able to do much of anything against fully evolved Pokémon, but trainers looking for a challenge might be able to make it work until level 55. Once it evolves, Tyranitar can carry entire games.
Dragonite
Dragonair is a beautiful Pokémon with fairly pitiful stats that evolves into the goofy yet powerful Dragonite at level 55.
Notably, Lance, a powerful Pokémon champion in his own right, is widely remembered for his use of three Dragonites each somehow under level 55. Despite its presence in the early games, Dragonite was never a true top-tier powerhouse until the physical/special split in gen IV. Since then, it's been more than worth raising any lowly Dratini all the way into a Dragonite.
Volcarona
The lowly Larvesta evolves into Volcarona at Level 59. It's the highest level of evolution for a non-pseudo legendary in the series.
Continuing the bizarre trend of Gen V evolution levels is Larvesta, who absolutely should evolve around level 40. While Volcarona is very strong, N and Ghetsis have teams around level 50. Unless players want to level their Pokémon so high that the final battle won't be challenging, they probably shouldn't include Larvesta until post-game unless they're playing Black 2 and White 2.
Dragapult
Drakloak evolves into Dragapult at the late level of 60. It's the latest level of evolution for the Pokémon introduced in Sword & Shield.
Few Pokémon that evolve late are especially useful in the late game, but Drakloak isn't as bad as its first stage pseudo-legendary brethren. The Pokémon has surprisingly good speed and an average attack stat, allowing it to do work throughout most of the story. Fortunately, it also evolves into Dragapult in time for Champion Leon, whose team is in the early 60s.
Hydreigon
Zweilous evolves into Hydreigon at level 64. This makes it the latest level for evolution in the entire series, in the generation with consistently low-level endgames.
It's virtually impossible to have a Hydreigon for the endgame of any Gen V game without drastically grinding and over leveling. This is ironic, considering Ghetsis and Iris (the final main story fights of both games) both have Hydreigons that are somehow lower than level 64. To make matters worse, Zweilous and Hydreigon are both on the lower tier of pseudo-legendaries.