Exploring How the Remaining Eeveelutions Might Evolve

Eevee is well known as the evolution Pokémon—it has gained eight branching evolutions over time, spawning the term ‘Eeveelutions’. Every Eeveelution is a different and singular type, but since there are 18 types total, this leaves us with nine missing Eeveelutions, excluding Eevee’s already Normal type. I’ve endeavored to come up with some ideas for how these remaining Eeveelutions might evolve.

Existing Eeveelutions

Before we get into speculation, here’s a quick rundown of the existing Eeveelutions. Eeveelutions have typically been released in sets with the same method of evolution common to that set.

Generation I, Evolution Stones

• Vaporeon ( Water type): exposed to a Water Stone
• Jolteon ( Electric type): exposed to a Thunder Stone
• Flareon ( Fire type): exposed to a Fire Stone

Generation II, Friendship & Day/Night Cycle

• Espeon ( Psychic type): leveled up with high friendship during the daytime
• Umbreon ( Dark type): leveled up with high friendship during the nighttime

Generation IV, Rocks in the Overworld

• Leafeon ( Grass type): leveled up near a Moss Rock, generally found in a forest area in the mid to late game. In generation VIII+, it levels up when exposed to a Leaf Stone.
• Glaceon ( Ice type): leveled up near an Ice Rock, generally found in an icy cave in the late game. In generation VIII+, it levels up when exposed to an Ice Stone.

Generation VI, Affection

• Sylveon ( Fairy type): leveled up with a Fairy-type move and two levels of affection, gained by playing a mini-game with your Eevee. In Generation VIII, it levels up with high friendship while knowing a Fairy-type move.

New evolution methods took precedence over older ones, so you might accidentally evolve Eevee into Glaceon by leveling it up near an Ice Rock during the day when you intended to evolve it into Espeon. This generally wasn’t a problem, but Generation VIII simplified these methods, both due to not carrying over features from previous games, and to eliminate some complications.

You might have noticed all of the Eeveelutions have also been elemental or magical in nature as opposed to the physical nature of most of the unreleased types. In fact, all of the unreleased types were considered physical prior to generation IV, back when types were split into physical or special categories. This lends credence to the idea that no additional Eeveelutions will be created, but we’re here to speculate how life will find a way, not if it ever will.

The 'Fakémon' Eeveelution art accompanying each type was drawn by JeanMimi. You can check out all the Eeveelutions in one image, including their Normal-type evolution not included here on their Twitter page.

Bug

Possible Evolution Methods:

1. After a battle in which it’s hit by String Shot
2. Leveled up while holding Honey or Silver Powder

Of all the potential new Eeveelutions, a Bug type is probably the least likely to exist. Like the Normal type, no Pokémon gains the Bug type upon evolution that did not already have it. A bug is a bug and it will always be a bug. However, Eevee is described as having an unstable genetic code, so if any Pokémon would break this rule, it would be Eevee.

The first method has some precedence in Pokémon Sword: Galarian Farfetch'd evolves into Sirfetch'd after it lands three critical hits in a single battle. This means the games can keep track of specific battle conditions and don’t need a leveling trigger for evolution. Thematically, it would be like a Bug type wrapping Eevee in silk, creating a cocoon, with the Bug-type Eevee emerging from it after the battle. It might look like a butterfly, moth, or even a spider if you think of the String Shot as a silken spider egg.

My second proposed method paves the way for branching Bug-type Eeveelutions. If evolved with Honey, it could have the appearance of a bee, but if it’s evolved with Silver Powder, it would look like a butterfly or moth.

Dragon

Possible Evolution Methods:

1. After a battle in which it survives losing at least 50 HP from a Dragon-type move
2. Leveled up with high friendship while holding a Dragon Scale

Again, Pokémon Sword and Shield introduced us to the first idea. Galarian Yamask evolves into Runerigus when the player travels through the stone gate in the Dusty Bowl after it has lost 49 HP or more from a single attack and did not faint in the same battle or since. This idea gatekeeps evolution a little by ensuring it’s high enough level to endure a hit without fainting. Eevee would probably have to be about level 30 or higher when it would have 70+ HP to evolve with this method.

It also fits with Eevee’s biology of being easily influenced by its circumstances. Requiring you to pass through a specific area is less viable because they’d need to create a point like that in all future games. It works in Yamask’s case because it’s a regional variant and will only evolve like that in Galar.

But, like any Dragon-type Pokémon, a Dragon Eeveelution would probably be a little harder to evolve. That said, having multiple requirements like gaining high friendship and obtaining a Dragon Scale seems appropriate.

Fighting

Possible Evolution Methods:

1. Leveled up while holding a Black Belt or Macho Brace and while attack is greater than defense
2. Leveled up with a Fighting-type move

A Black Belt boosts the power of Fighting-type moves, while a Macho Brace doubles all effort values gained by the holder during a battle. The inspiration for the added requirement of Eevee’s attacking being greater than its defense is inspired by Tyrogue evolving into Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan, depending on if its attack is higher than its defense or vice versa, respectively. You could do something similar with Eevee, giving it branching Fighting-type evolutions that make it look a little scrappier or able to take a hit, depending on which stat was higher.

The second method is like Sylveon’s requirement to know a Fairy-type move, but this idea is more complicated than that. While Eevee can learn two Fairy-type moves naturally by leveling up (Baby-Doll Eyes and Charm), it doesn’t learn any Fighting ones. It similarly can’t learn any from any Technical Machine (TM) or Technical Record (TR), so what gives? It turns out that you can breed Eevee with certain Pokémon to have the baby know Detect, Double Kick, or Flail as an egg move. It would take a dedicated trainer, but how else would Eevee inherit a fighting spirit?

Flying

Possible Evolution Methods:

1. After a battle it joined while any entry hazard was on the field
2. Leveled up in a special area at the top of a mountain
3. Leveled up while affected by Tailwind
4. Leveled up while holding a Float Stone

Putting aside the suggestion some people have to throw Eevee off a cliff, allowing its unstable genetics to take over and cause it to sprout wings, there are quite a few ideas to make Eevee evolve into a Flying type. The first involves entry hazards, field conditions set up that cause Pokémon entering the battlefield to take damage or be inflicted with a status condition. Flying-type Pokémon are naturally immune to entry hazards unless they become grounded, meaning Eevee might evolve to counteract being hit by one again. However, specific entry hazards could be used for other evolutions, so there are more methods to explore.

The second idea is similar to Leafeon and Glaceon’s evolution methods: exposing Eevee to a particular environment or object. Location-based evolution isn’t exclusive to Eevee — Magneton, Nosepass, and Charjabug would also evolve when exposed to a special magnetic field in previous games, though they now evolve using a Thunder Stone, similar to how Leafeon and Glaceon use evolution stones as well. An ideal location for Eevee to evolve into a Flying type would be a mountain, which is generally common to all games, perhaps in an area with turbulent winds.

For the third, more unique method, you would need to ensure Eevee was close to leveling and have another Pokémon on your team give use Tailwind, a status move that buffs the speed of all the Pokémon in your party. It lasts four turns, but since one turn would probably be spent swapping in Eevee, it might require some careful maneuvering.

We all know that in order for animals to fly, they must be lightweight, which is why birds have many hollow bones with air-filled cavities. The Float Stone halves the user’s weight and could provide Eevee with the ideal conditions to get some liftoff.

Ghost

Possible Evolution Methods:

1. After a battle in which it faints with maximum friendship
2. Exposure to a Dusk Stone
3. Leveled up in a haunted area
4. Leveled up with high friendship while holding a Reaper Cloth

This is probably one of the most unlikely Eeveelutions since evolving into a Ghost type would imply your Eevee had died. Eevee is marketed as a cute, fluffy, huggable companion, having gained as much traction as a fan favorite as Pikachu. Pokémon is not afraid to go dark. After all, Cubone’s backstory is that it endured trauma from its mother’s passing, it wears her skull as a helmet, and can’t evolve until it accepts her death. That’s been Cubone’s story from the beginning though—it’s a little harder to tell a child that their adorable bushy-tailed buddy passed away to evolve.

This makes the first idea the grimmest and also most improbable case. The series is constantly telling you to take care of your Pokémon, stop at Pokémon centers to heal them up, and withdraw them from battle when they’ve taken a beating, so telling players to let their Eevee faint so it can evolve to new heights doesn’t sound right. It’s only right that Eevee should have maximum friendship with their trainer, giving it the desire to loyally follow them, even in the afterlife.

Using an evolution stone would rectify the death dilemma. The description of the Dusk Stone in the most recent games is, “It holds shadows as dark as can be.” It is currently used to make four different Pokémon evolve, three of which are Ghost types, while the last is a Dark type. It is usually found in supernatural areas in the games, such as the haunted Strange House in Black and White Version 2, or the “city of otherworldly dreams,” Laverre City, in X and Y.

Similarly, all of the games have a cemetery or resting ground for deceased Pokémon like the Lost Tower in Sinnoh or Mt. Pyre in Hoenn, and/or a route or forest that’s described as eerie or unearthly, like Route 14 in Kalos. The idea is that Eevee takes on the characteristics of the Ghost types, which vary greatly in their personality and abilities. It could maintain Eevee’s playful spirit by becoming more mischievous, or remain kind at heart, preserving the memories of humans who’ve passed like Gastly, or absorbing negative emotions like Shuppet.

The final method involves a Reaper Cloth, a held item currently used to make Dusclops evolve into Dusknoir when traded. This Eevee might look more mummified or ghostly in appearance.

Ground

Possible Evolution Methods:

1. Leveled up during a sandstorm 
2. Leveled up with a Ground-type move

Sandstorm is a weather condition created by some abilities, moves, or items. Its main effect, among many, is that it damages Pokémon that are not Ground, Rock, or Steel types. Eevee’s unique genetics could adjust to the sandstorm whipping up, causing it to evolve into a Ground type to avoid future injury.

Unlike Fighting-type moves, there are two Ground-type moves that are easily accessible to Eevee. Eevee learns Sand Attack at level five, so you could either level it from a baby or, if you caught one in the wild at a higher level, go to a Move Reminder to have Eevee relearn it. Alternatively, Eevee can learn Dig from a TM, giving players an effortless way to evolve a Ground-type Eeveelution.

Poison

Possible Evolution Methods:

1. After a battle it joined while poison spikes were on the field
2. Leveled up with a Poison-type move
3. Leveled up while poisoned

More so than any other type, it’s difficult to brainstorm a method to evolve a Poison-type Eeveelution that doesn’t involve subjecting it to some pain. My first proposed method involves a specific entry hazard, poison spikes, created by using the move Toxic Spikes. It causes any Pokémon switched in to be poisoned or badly poisoned depending on how many layers have been set up. Poison-type Pokémon are immune to this and will instead absorb the poison and remove the entry hazard. It might be a little tricky to find a wild Pokémon or a trainer with a Pokémon that knows Toxic Spikes, but in the end, it’ll probably be more painful for Eevee than it is for you.

Eevee was able to learn Toxic via TM in previous generations, but Generation VIII removed it as a TM or TR entirely. It’s not uncommon for TM numbers to change throughout generations, but Toxic was always TM06 in every generation except the last, indicating they might be making a more permanent change, and disabling Eevee from obtaining the move in doing so.

The final idea is undoubtedly unkind but doesn’t lack merit, even in real life. The idea of injecting yourself with small amounts of venom to build up immunity is known as mithridatism. The process dates back to Mithridates VI, a King of Pontus, whose father was assassinated by poisoning. The critical aspect of this method is of course ensuring your Eevee doesn’t faint to the poison before the battle ends and it can evolve, especially if it becomes badly poisoned, which increases damage additively each turn.

Rock

Possible Evolution Methods:

1. After a battle it joined while spikes or pointed stones were on the field
2. Being recreated from a fossil
3. Exposure to a Shiny Stone
4. Leveled up while holding a Hard Stone

Another entry hazard, pointed stones are created by using Stealth Rock (or G-Max Stonesurge, usable only by Gigantamax Drednaw). The stones littering the field deal damage to Pokémon proportional to their maximum HP, based on how effective Rock-type moves are against that Pokémon. However, Rock-type Pokémon don’t take reduced damage from the hazard, meaning the Normal-type Eevee and its Rock-type evolution would take the same damage proportionally. From a Darwinist standpoint, this idea doesn’t make a ton of sense.

Recent games, Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, have explored time travel. It would be an interesting idea to discover an ancient fossilized Eevee and bring it back to life, or find a Rock-type Paradox Eevee sneaking into our current timeline.

Probably my favorite Eeveelution method, exposing Eevee to a Shiny Stone makes way for a more creative color palette. Most Rock types are gray, brown, or black (save Fossil Pokémon like Archeops or Aurorus), but to fit in with Eevee’s cute and cool factor, they could design a gemstone Eeveelution. Think something like Dianicie, a mythical geode Pokémon that Mega Evolves into a stunning pink diamond chandelier.

On the other hand, if you did want to make a drab Rock Eeveelution, you could use a Hard Stone, an item that boosts the power of Rock-type moves.

Steel

Possible Evolution Methods:

1. Leveled up while holding a Metal Coat
2. Leveled up with a Steel-type move

Although there are definitely some creative ideas to design a Steel-type Eeveelution like a steel-plated Eevee, an Eevee knight wearing plate armor, or even a more technological robot Eevee, the methods to evolve it are limited with known evolution methods. You could use a Metal Coat, an item that boosts the power of Steel-type moves and is already used to evolve Onix into Steelix and Scyther into Scizor.

The only Steel-type move Eevee is able to learn is Iron Tail, and it can only discover it via tutoring or a TR. As a result, this method is more unlikely than the first since Pokémon is hesitant to require players to force a move type via a special method versus a move type the Pokémon learns naturally by leveling up.