Tag: eevee

hi Bill! I looked through previous answers about Eevee, but saw nothing that spoke of how to know what kind of signs they might show for their preference in evolution. Is there such a thing as Eevee who like warm weather would rather evolve into Flareon or Eevee who like swimming evolve into Vaporeon more often, or is all of that just a myth? And what are the signs for a Sylveon preference, if there is such a thing?

Absolutely, there is such a thing. These are often the first signs of interest in a particular evolution. Usually, these signs will evolve (forgive the pun) into more overt signs, such as an eevee fascinated by fire, one delighted by thunderstorms, one who won’t get out of the water once it gets in, one who’s more nocturnal than usual, and so on. Also watch out for signs of excitement at the sight of the eevee’s chosen evolution or attempts to use moves of a particular type. A strong preference for using moves of a specific element is usually an indication of a particularly strong preference for a specific evolution.

Regarding sylveon, the signs are very similar (an eevee with a preference for fairy-type moves, sylveon, or pink/soft/lace-covered objects will likely want to evolve into a sylveon), but it’s also about personality as well. An eevee that hopes to be a sylveon will show more affection to its trainer and often responds more enthusiastically to treats, even more so than eevee intending on becoming espeon or umbreon. Unusually strong protectiveness is also a pretty good sign.

(Assuming it’s domesticated from birth) Might an Eevee display different behaviors/talents depending on its parentage? For example, an Eevee hatchling from Espeon and Vaporeon making a good future Leafeon, or an Eevee coming from a long line of Flareon suddenly displaying pre-evolution behaviors for a Sylveon? Whatever the answer, does the same also apply to Eevee with an unevolved parent or with a non-Eevee parent, or other species with branching evolution lines like Oddish or Rockruff?

Certainly! An eevee’s preferred evolution is a conscious decision made by the eevee itself; it’s an expression of both its interests and its identity, both of which can vary vastly from those of its parents’.

Of course, if an eevee is born to a solid pack of one specific eeveelution, then they’re more likely to evolve into that eeveelution as well. This may be for two reasons: either the climate/terrain is better suited to that specific eeveelution (thus, evolution out of necessity for survival) or the eevee sees it as easier to evolve into a matching evolution so as to fit in with the rest of its pack and get along well enough to survive (thus, evolution out of social obligation … and also necessity for survival again). Thus, you’re less likely to see pre-evolutionary behaviors that don’t match the rest of an eevee’s pack, although that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will never see differing pre-evolutionary behavior.

(Incidentally, yes, the point still stands if the eevee were domesticated. Sometimes, multiple tame eevee will also form a pack of like eeveelutions in order to better withstand certain climates and areas they’re raised in. This is generally more common in regions with extreme temperatures, such as the Arctic, where eevee, even domesticated ones, will generally try to evolve into glaceon to better withstand the elements.)

If an eevee came from a pack of mixed eeveelutions, and especially if its own parents were two different evolutions themselves, it’s more likely for the eevee to pick whatever feels right to it, even if that eeveelution isn’t that of either of its parents. The same can be said for eevee whose parents consist of one eevee or eeveelution and a completely different pokémon. Because such mate pairings occur in situations where there isn’t a need to evolve into one specific eeveelution to survive (either through better socializing or simple adaptation to the environment), the eevee feel freer to explore their options and express themselves according to which eeveelution they would prefer.

As for other evolutionary families, it absolutely works in similar ways: if you have a pack or garden of solidly midday lycanroc or vileplume, hatchlings will be more likely to display pre-evolutionary behavior consistent with their group’s evolution of choice. A mixed pack, garden, herd, and so forth will yield more varied behavior.

There is only one exception to the above rule, and it’s slowpoke. A slowpoke’s pre-evolutionary behavior is that of … well, a slowpoke. They’re fascinating and wonderful creatures, but no, all slowpoke are like that, if you understand my meaning.

Bill, what exactly is the deal with lop-eared Eevees? In particular, I’ve heard that you shouldn’t evolve them into Vaporeon because the ear structure will cause issues. Is this true?

Actually, no. A lop-ear vaporeon’s ear can still drain just as a normal vaporeon’s ear will.

However, that doesn’t mean that lop-ear in eevee isn’t a cause for concern. While water can drain rather easily from a vaporeon’s ear (Note: It might not for eevee, however, so please be careful about letting your lop-eared eevee swim), bacteria is an entirely different story, and lop-ear is a prime breeding ground for microorganisms due to the fact that the opening is held against the head (thus providing warm, moist shelter). This means that all members of the eevee family except flareon are highly susceptible to ear infections, so eevee with lop-ear must be checked regularly for any issues.

As a note, the reason why flareon is exempt here is because it possesses the capability of raising its body temperature (and withstanding higher temperatures) than is viable for most strains of bacteria that would cause infection in its cousins and preevolution. For this reason, flareon is actually resistant to most ailments, simply by virtue of simulating an intensely high fever for a short period of time.

For all others, especially the fragile leafeon and the normally aquatic vaporeon, it’s important to keep your pokémon’s ears clean, check inside their ears regularly for any signs of dirt or pus, and keep an eye on your eevee or eeveelution for signs of infection (lack of coordination or balance, fever, pain, difficulty hearing, and so forth).

Why are some eeveelutions more canine, some more feline, some more vulpine, etc.? It’s certainly more interesting than having them all be the same but recolored for type, but why did nature do that one?

In most cases, it’s a product of adaptive evolution. Each eeveelution possesses the traits it has because those better equip it for the specific niche it serves. For example, the more “feline” vaporeon looks the way it does because it’s meant to have a certain sense of agility as it glides through the water and chases after fish. By contrast, the more “canine” jolteon possesses dog-like traits because their hunting-style is more dog-like (and also because their thinner muzzle makes it easier for them to sniff out and dig out the eggs that form a staple of their diets). Additionally, the more “vulpine” flareon actually looks the way it does for a combination of both: as it hunts for small rodents on its own, it needs both agility and sharper senses. That and its puffier coat, which some say also make it look vulpine, is better at keeping its body from overheating, as strange as that is to say. 

Alternatively, in certain cases, certain traits were simply bred into the species—meaning, breeders carefully controlled the parentage of eevee to ensure that they possess certain traits upon evolution, as in the case of the more cat-like espeon, the more dog-and-rabbit-like sylveon, and the more fox-like umbreon. (Of course, it’s worth it to note that fox-like adaptations have always benefited umbreon in the wild as well, so breeders didn’t exactly have to do much to get a more vulpine umbreon.)

As for leafeon and glaceon, they’re a bit of both too. They’re both vulpine, yes, but leafeon was bred to be that way, whereas glaceon essentially adapted to be that way on its own (as their fox-like characteristics make it easier for them to fish).

Hi Bill! Perhaps you can help me with something of a problem? Although, in regard to the Aspiring Dark Rookie Trainer’s father, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. I run a ranch north of Tohjo Falls, and the Eevee family is kind of our signature. While my partners (a male Jolteon and female Umbreon) are only responsible for a handful of the Eevee produced, about 70% of the pups are evolving into Umbreon, even outside normal conditions. Some of my…less pleased clients are threatening to sue. Thoughts?

Hmm. It’s extremely rare, but there are cases in which eevee that are comfortable and raised in a fairly safe and consistent environment (meaning, there are no particular controllable factors that would affect their evolution present) will be “locked” genetically. That is to say, if one or both parents are eeveelutions, one parent will pass down genes that will essentially choose which evolution an eevee will undergo pre-birth.

There are ways to counter this, however. Usually, the introduction of another environmental factor will knock their pups’ genetics “off balance” so to speak, just enough to allow them to access all of their potential evolutions again. So for example, you could plant a thunder stone near the parents’ burrow, in a place the eevee themselves can’t access but just close enough to allow the stone’s radiation to seep into the nesting ground. Alternatively, samples of moss or ice rock or the other evolution stones will work.

Also, because you live in the mountains, you may wish to keep an eye out for clefairy. While eevee don’t evolve via moon stone, high exposure to fragments of moon stone (otherwise known as moon shards) can sometimes influence an eevee into evolving into an umbreon, regardless of the time of day, so long as its other requirement of closeness with a trainer is met. Clefairy often collect moon shards to build their own moon stones, so if you happen to see a clefairy nearby, there’s a good chance there’s a moon shard cache (along with a clefairy colony) nearby too. These are just as rare as the above possibility, especially if you live in an area that hasn’t seen a clefairy colony before, but given how capricious clefairy can be and given the possibility that the recent bizarre weather we’ve been having could very well have carried moon shards down the mountains, it’s still worth looking into. Should you have a clefairy invasion on your hands, calling in a trainer or few should help clear that up. As in, a sufficient number of humans heading directly towards a clefairy cache will often encourage the colony to pick up and leave on their own.

Best of luck!

Is eevee related to arceus in any way?

It depends on whether or not you believe in the idea that Arceus created the universe and thus all pokémon. If you do, then yes. In a way, anyway. According to the myth, Arceus created Mew, who in turn is the ancestor of all pokémon, which means that eevee would be distantly related to Arceus itself.

If, however, you take more of a scientific approach, then likely no. While no one has a sample of Arceus’s DNA to confirm this, judging by appearances alone, I would venture a guess that eevee and Arceus are too genetically dissimilar. However, they do belong to the same taxonomic kingdom, so there’s that.

I feel as if I’ve become an Eevee trainer, as I’ve recently been… “gifted” a pair of triplets, one of whom seems to have been born blind. Would it be a good idea to evolve him to an Espeon to boost his sensory abilities? How should I train him — other than the lack of sight, he’s very exuberant and plays with his siblings quite a bit (it’s very cute watching them tussle!)

Although it may seem like a good idea, it’s best to try communicating with your eevee to see if that’s what he would like to do. If you have an espeon or know anyone with one, it would be an excellent idea to have your eevee meet them in order to shadow them, in a way. That is, exposing your eevee to an espeon will help it decide whether or not being one is right for it. If he’s sure after interacting with an espeon that he wants to be one, then by all means, proceed.

If he seems hesitant, however, consider other options. In truth, all of eevee’s evolutions have unique ways of navigating the world that isn’t necessarily reliant on eyesight. Jolteon, for example, read electrical charges in the air. Vaporeon does the same with humidity, but leafeon can detect changes in the ground through its paws (likely due to its connection with the earth, as a grass-type).

Even then (and in response to your other question), there are certainly ways a trainer can assist a pokémon with an impaired sense. Training them to rely on their hearing and smell, for example. Designing strategies that take your eevee’s disability into account while leaning on what he can do instead, for another. Some trainers even use the impaired sense to their advantage, as most opponents will either underestimate a disabled pokémon or not expect one at all, which means they won’t expect whatever strategy you throw at them. Blindness can even throw a wrench into strategies that rely on a target being sighted, including and especially the popular Attract strategy, as well as the somewhat rarer Hypnosis.

The point is that while evolving your eevee into espeon could help, it should ultimately be up to him. If he chooses not to evolve into an espeon, rest assured you still have plenty of options. You just have to think creatively about what he can do instead and build training techniques around that.

Best of luck!