I've kinda had the feeling pokemon designs were getting less and less creative as time went on. Less cool ideas and concepts put into pokemon and more just "we need to use this animal" or "we need to get this type combo covered". So I made a list where I just laid out each design based on how creative I think it is.

And I did notice most designs are either serviceable or below, and gen 9 has a lot of stinkers when it comes to really bland pokemon. And of course designs that just add on or are spins on something else aren't very creative unless they can contextualize the original in a smart way. Most paradox mons/regional forms/ convergent evos don't do that.

Also note that this isn't me saying the designs are "good" or "bad", there's really good designs on the bottom tier and there's Skeledirge in the top one.
I'm just trying to see if the pokemon company is getting safer with their pokemon. And I think so. Also feel free to disagree and make your own lists.