5th Gen Many Gen V Pokemon evolve at later levels.

A lot of the Pokemon in this generation evolve a lot later than most Pokemon would have a few generations before. Some examples are Darumaka, which evolves at level 35, Dwebble, a bug type, which evolves at level 34, Scraggy, which evolves at level 39, and Rufflet/Vullaby which both evolve at level 54.

There, are, of course, many more examples. Many Pokemon in gen five just evolve late.

Why do you think this may have been? I've heard people say it's because most of the Pokemon in Unova are already "evolved" and don't need to to get stronger.

I'm pretty sure one of the main reasons the evolution levels are so high is so that you can experience the basic forms for more than 1 level.

Black and White only have Unovan pokemon in the main game. Gamefreak are probably thinking, "We want the players to experience using these new pokemon, even the basic forms". In the later half of the game, the wild levels get up to around Lvl30+. Gamefreak is thinking, "If we put the evolution levels of these pokemon too low, they'll only use the basic forms for 1 level. We want the players to use them for far longer". Therefore, all the pokemon in the evolve at, maybe 5-10 levels above their wild encounter level.

Now, compare this to Kanto. The highest evolutions are at 55 by Dragonite, then a low level of 42 with Rhydon at second place. The fossils and Rapidash follow at 40, and then its pretty sparce until 36 with the starters. A lot of pokemon evolve more at the high 20s, low 30s. Even though Kanto has around the same amount of pokemon, a lot of them aren't even available in the wild: you've got in-game trades, gifts, fossils and game corner-only pokemon. You've also got a more single-stage pokemon. The wilds only really get as high as the low 30s before Victory Road due to its non-linear nature: every location around the mid-game has to have around the same level wilds because players can access them in pretty much any order. Gamefreak also probably aren't thinking about players using Pokemon, probably just thinking about getting the game out to the public.

This comment is too long.

I remember reading a post somewhere about how the region is less predatory, which is how the Pokemon can stay in the base forms for longer times.

Because the developers want you to play the postgame. Unlike gen 2 Kanto, where the Gym Leaders cap out at around Lv50 despite you already defeating Lance who surpassed those levels, the BW postgame actually has Trainers who are stronger than the ones you fought in the main game. Imagine if your team was fully-evolved before you fought N and Ghetsis, and then you took them through the entire second half of Unova and they couldn't evolve further--that gets pretty stale. But because of the high evolution levels, your team can continue to grow, to evolve (figuratively and literally) as you progress through the postgame.

It's threatening to see N with a Vanilluxe and Ghetsis with a Hydreigon when your own Vanillish and Zweilous aren't ready to evolve just yet. But once you've defeated them and continue onto the postgame they level further and are finally able to evolve themselves--and it's incredibly rewarding. And would it really be fun to catch a Mienfoo in Victory Road, already at Lv40, just to have it evolve one level later at 41? You wouldn't get to experience its first stage at all, and it will be harder to grow attached to it.

The Pokémon of Unova evolve late because Unova actually has a post-game with high-level Trainers that the developers want you to experience without having to throw out your entire team just to keep it fresh. They'll continue to evolve alongside you even after the credits roll.

Rivvon said:

Because the developers want you to play the postgame.

Click to expand...

This just about hits the nail on the head tbh, BW's postgame was a big part of Gen V (a trend which sadly disappeared after this gen), and there was a lot explore, trainers to fight and sidequests to complete. I'm sure there's other small and lore-based reasons as well, but the fact that the post-game Pokemon are high leveled and the battles are too, makes it really rewarding to see your Pokemon evolve whilst you're continuing your journey around that extra third of the Unova region