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).

How are new Eeveelutions first discovered?

By accident, mostly.

You might think that’s a joke, but I’m actually dead serious. Eevee are fascinatingly adaptive, and as such, they respond to stimuli we never would have imagined would trigger evolution. For example, who knew that feeding your eevee poképuffs from a Lumiose bakery and spoiling it to ridiculous degrees via daily grooming would cause it to evolve into sylveon? Or training it in a specific forest or icy cave would help it evolve into leafeon or glaceon? (I mean, granted, yes, it’s adaptive, so one would assume training it in specific locations would trigger those evolutions, but the point is that not every forest triggers an evolution into leafeon, for example.)

The funny truth is that the harder researchers work to discover new evolutions of eevee, the less likely we’ll actually find them. It’s far more likely that one of us will simply accidentally dump a metal coat on an eevee and wind up with a steel-type eeveelution.

Incidentally, no, that doesn’t work. I might have tried. The eevee in question was not amused.

(But then again, maybe it’s dump a metal coat onto your eevee and then do something else with it. Hmm. That … that might need a follow-up there.)

Two questions that don’t realy go together my charizard has gained a fasination with water. I was thinking of buying him a kiddy pool to play in but was wondering if that mite kill him. Or would just jerry rigging it to be a small hot tub workout. I’m thinking of evolving my eevee into a glacion. Will his body temperature change, whant to know for snuggle resones.

1. It won’t exactly kill him, but it’s highly recommended that you avoid submerging the tip of his tail, as doing so would be a risk to his life. While there isn’t exactly a product out there specifically designed to do this, you might be able to fashion a floatation device that can be placed around his tail close to the flame on its tip to keep it upright and out of the water. Alternatively, the kiddie pool idea would work, but always be sure your charizard’s tail remains outside of it.

2. The bad news is yes, an eevee’s body temperature does indeed drop upon evolution into a glaceon. The good news is it doesn’t drop to a point where a glaceon can’t safely be cuddled. Just be wary of any signs that he’s getting overheated, and he should be fine.

Please help! I recently moved to Alola with my Glaceon and she seems incredibly sick all of the sudden. Could it be the sudden change in temperature? She’s been staying close to the air vents and rushes into the refrigerator whenever she’s able, and spends all her energy freezing the house, it was 40 degrees this morning! She’s refusing her food, and I don’t want to spend a ticket going all the way back to Icirrus City, Unova, but I will if I need to.

This would be heat sickness, yes.

If you can, try to install an air conditioner in your home. If you can’t, improvise with a fan, a tub of water (which your glaceon will need to freeze), and perhaps a bag of ice. Give her plenty of cold water to keep her hydrated, and try to give her cooling foods (lettuce in addition to cold meats) to help keep her temperature down.

Whenever possible, you may wish to take her to the Pokémon League now and then. The facility is located at the top of Alola’s highest mountain, and as such, it’s perpetually covered in snow. The break will be good for your glaceon, and you might run into a potential ice-type partner that will work with her to keep her temperature down at home.

Best of luck!

I always wondered if the eeveelutions are considered omnivores what specifically do their diets consist of? And does it differ on the specific eeveelution?

Eevee and its evolutions lean more toward (for the most part) carnivorous lifestyles, actually. While, like most pokémon, they can eat nuts, berries, grains, root vegetables, and so forth, much of their diet should be meat and protein of some kind.

That having been said, the answer to your second question depends. In captivity, the eevee family can actually be fed the exact same diet, regardless of what evolution each individual takes, with no real consequences so long as their trainer keeps in mind that they should be fed a balance of foods.

In the wild however, absolutely, it depends on the evolution.

Eevee tend to have the most balanced diet (as one would expect) and will eat whatever it can find in its immediate environment.

Flareon often stick to slower animals and pokémon, and its favored food sources tend to be small mammals. It will also display the unusual behavior of roasting their food with the intention of cooking it before eating. (Trainers should be aware that tamed flareon also display this behavior and should only be fed in fireproof environments.)

Vaporeon, being aquatic pokémon, will eat mostly seafood, including fish, amphibians, turtles, jellyfish, and aquatic mammals (such as seals). It tends to avoid shellfish, likely due to the difficulty in getting them open, but it will also hunt for larger meat sources (such as walruses, dolphins, and even sharks) in packs.

Jolteon, being faster and gifted with electrical attacks, often hunt for birds and forage for eggs. It’s also the one eeveelution that prefers pokémon meat over animal meat, as bird pokémon tend to be larger targets than their animal “counterparts.”

Espeon and Leafeon both tend to eat more of a herbivorous diet than their cousins. This does not mean that they are strictly herbivorous; simply that they forage more often than the others. Espeon tends to hunt for insects and other animals with lesser cognitive functions thanks to its psychic abilities. Leafeon, meanwhile, avoids insects (due to its plant biology) and consumes largely rodents, rabbits, frogs, and anything else it can find in its forest habitat. (Leafeon also photosynthesizes whenever a food source isn’t readily available.)

Umbreon, meanwhile, is much more of a carnivore than its cousins in that its diet consists almost entirely of meat. As a nocturnal, forest-dwelling pokémon in nature, it will often hunt for small, ground-dwelling pokémon and animals, particularly diurnal ones. It has no qualms raiding the nests of sleeping prey, in other words.

Glaceon will often consume whatever it can find in its colder, more arctic environment—usually seafood (for polar glaceon) or rabbits (for mountainous). Glaceon may also share territory with vaporeon, sometimes even hunting alongside them to take down larger prey (such as seals and even walruses).

Finally, Sylveon, like eevee, will eat whatever it can find in its environment but typically chooses prey it can lure into dark corners of its habitat and then devour.