How to get the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Kingambit

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet coop multiplayer online
(Image credit: Nintendo)

The Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Kingambit Pokemon is gained by evolving a Bisharp by giving it a Leader's Crest and having it fight other Bisharps. It's a big process - you'll have to get the Leader's Crest by fighting Bisharps in the first place, specifically looking for those that are leading little packs of Pawniards along the way.

Obtaining the Leader's Crest Held Item isn't easy, and to find one you'll have to catch very specific Pokemon in the wider world. We'll explain in more detail how to evolve Bisharp into Kingambit in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet below, as well as the easiest way to achieve it.

How to get Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Kingambit and evolve Bisharp

Pokemon Scarlet Violet Kingambit bisharp evolution

(Image credit: Nintendo)

To get a Kingambit in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and evolve their Bisharp, players need to do the following:

  1. Head to the North Province (Area 2) Pokemon Center in the Northeast of Paldea
  2. Look for a Bisharp surrounded by a group of 3-5 Pawniard (not one walking about on its own)
  3. Battle the Bisharp and catch it, making sure not to let it faint first
  4. The Bisharp you caught should have a Held Item called a Leader's Crest
  5. Equip the Leader's Crest on whatever Bisharp you wish to evolve
  6. This is the tricky bit - keep searching the Bamboo forests for more Bisharp leading small groups of Pawniard (again, a Bisharp on their own won't help you)
  7. When you see a leader Bisharp, have your Bisharp with the Leader Crest battle and defeat it (and don't catch it)
  8. Defeat 3 "Leader Bisharp" while having the Leader Crest equipped in this way.
  9. Level up your victorious Bisharp in any manner
  10. If done correctly, it should evolve into a Kingambit!

Pokemon Scarlet Violet Kingambit bisharp evolution

(Image credit: Nintendo)
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Sinistea Chips and Malicious Armo

Pokemon Violet sinistea chips malicious armor ceruledge

(Image credit: Nintendo)

For more secret evolutions, get a Ceruledge with the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Sinistea Chips and Malicious Armor here!

It's clearly a complex process, but arguably worth doing - Kingambit is a very powerful Dark/Steel type with good physical stats to boot (though it'll be incredibly weak to Fighting attacks, so be careful!). Once you have it evolved, you can also safely stow the Leader's Crest - it doesn't serve any function other than to trigger evolution, and once that's done, you might as well equip it with an item that'll actually help it in battle going forward.

Alternatively, you might always get lucky and find a Kingambit as a boss in a Raid encounter, which'll give you some wildcard options next time you're considering Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Tera types and Terastallizing

Joel Franey
Guides Writer

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.

Read more
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
A single frame in the new Pokemon Legends Z-A trailer gives hardcore shiny hunters and Nuzlocke runners hope for a huge quality-of-life change
Prismatic Evolitions trading card deals available right now
Where to buy Pokémon TCG Prismatic Evolutions Trading Card products
A Flareon in a top hat from the Pokemon anime
Pokemon streamer beats the hardest challenge the RPG offers after 4,000 attempts over 15 months, all thanks to the Flareon that could
Crown rarity Palkia ex, one of the rarest cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket
All the rarest cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket
Zoomed in art of the Sudowoodo illustration rare card in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
Pokemon's literal god of the universe is almost unstoppable in TCG Pocket – the only thing that can save us is a smiley tree and a concussed dinosaur
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega Evolution – All the Pokemon who can Mega-Evolve we know about so far
Latest in Pokemon
an ai chatbot plays a modded verion of pokemon red and jumps down a ledge to talk to an npc
An AI's mission to 'teach' itself Pokemon Red is going as well as you think - after escaping Cerulean City after tens of hours, it went right on back
Pokemon Legends Z-A screenshot showing Mega Charizard
Pokemon Legends Z-A's visuals aren't "great" say former Nintendo marketing leads, but hope Switch 2 could allow Game Freak to "go back to the drawing board" and add more detail to future RPGs
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks to finally bring my anime-inspired dreams of truly active combat to life
Zoomed in art of the Sudowoodo illustration rare card in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
Pokemon's literal god of the universe is almost unstoppable in TCG Pocket – the only thing that can save us is a smiley tree and a concussed dinosaur
Charizard in the Pokemon anime.
Pokemon fans prove they'll buy anything as a Cheeto shaped like a Charizard sells for almost $90k
The player character in Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks at the three starter Pokemon, Totodile, Tepig, and Chikorita.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A's starter trio proves it's time for a new type, and I know what it should be
Latest in Guides
FC 25
FC 25 FUT Birthday guide and full cards list
Assassin's Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji expansion Naoe and Yasuke in Awaji forest
Assassin's Creed Shadows roadmap, DLC and future content
A scary emoji shown in horror game REPO.
Is REPO coming to consoles?
Monster Hunter Wilds Nu Udra Palico
How to get the Monster Hunter Wilds Aqua Sac and Flame Sac
WWE 2K25
WWE 2K25 DLC guide to all Season Pass wrestlers
Monster Hunter Wilds screenshot showing a fiery octopus monster grabbing player
Monster Hunter Wilds Black Flame location and boss fight guide