"Pokémon Go" Eevee Evolution & Name Trick Guide

Eevee is a unique Pokémon in that it can evolve into many different things spanning many different types. In Pokémon Go, these evolutions are fairly strong in the meta and overall quite useful. However, these evolutions occur randomly when you evolve, so you don't get to determine which evolved version of Eevee you will get. While it only takes 25 candy to evolve an Eevee, it can be frustrating to not get the evolution you want, particularly if you find one with good stats.

There is a trick that lets you decide who your Eevee will evolve into. By naming your Eevee something specific prior to evolving it, you can determine what it will become. For example, naming your Eevee "Rainer" will cause it to evolve into a Vaporeon. It may come as no surprise that the names come from the original Pokémon show. You may remember as a child that three brothers, with ridiculous hair styles, have Vapreon, Flareon, and Jolteon.

However, the catch is that this trick only works a single time! So you must choose wisely. I highly recommend waiting until you find an Eevee with high individuals values (IVs) before using the naming trick so that you're investing in a strong Eevee. While many of the Eevee evolutions aren't the strongest of their respective types, they are certainly viable for raids.

The classic three from generation one, which are Electric, Water, and Fire-type. While they aren't necessarily the best for raiding or attacking gyms, they're a standard to have in your back pocket should you need them. Their naming conventions are:

• "Sparky" evolves into Jolteon
• "Rainer" evolves into Vaporeon
• "Pyro" evolves into Flareon

Vaporeon is generally considered the best of the three, or at least the most useful in Pokémon GO. But any of the evolutions are a good option, should you need to a counter of that type. They tend to have fairly high DPS as well.

Introduced in Generation 2, Umbreon is the dark evolution of Eevee and Espeon is the psychic version. Espeon is actually one of the highest DPS Psychic Pokémon in Pokémon Go, so it's definitely a useful weapon in your arsenal. It's particularly useful for raiding Machamps, which in turn are useful for raiding Tyranitars, fighting Blisseys in gyms, and is generally one of the most universally useful Pokémon.

Their naming convention is:

• "Tamao" evolves into Umbreon
• "Sakura" evolves into Espeon

However, there is a second trick with these two! Walk Eevee as your buddy for 10 total kilometers or more. Then evolve Eevee during the day to force an evolution into Espeon, or during the night to force an evolution to Umbreon. This also happens to be in two of the stages of the Celebi special research.

Introduced in Generation 4, Leafeon is the grass version of Eevee and Glaceon is the ice version. Similar to other evolutions of Eevee, both of them have a name trick associated with them as well as an additional trick you can do to guarantee each of the evolutions. However, it is a bit different than previous evolutions. For the naming trick:

• "Linnea" evolves into Leafeon
• "Rea" evolves into Glaceon

You can also use the lures introduced to the game along with these two to force evolutions. If you evolve an Eevee while in a Mossy Lure, for example, it will become a Leafeon. You'll know this is the case as the evolution icon will change from a question mark to the cut out of a Leafeon. The same goes for being inside of a Glacial Lure. You can do this as many times as you want, it's not limited as the naming trick is. However, the lures do cost 200 coins a piece. For more information on lures, check out my full guide.

Introduced in Generation 6, Sylveon is the fairy evolution of Eevee. This is likely a long way out from being in Pokémon Go as we just started getting Generation 5, but it will come eventually! If you have a spare shiny Eevee, be sure to keep it to make a shiny Sylveon.