How to Evolve Eevee into Espeon or Umbreon in Pokémon

Get an Espeon or Umbreon in any Pokémon game with our complete evolution guide

Written by Hunter Rising

Last Updated: January 30, 2023 References Tested

Pokémon Scarlet, Violet, Legends: Arceus, & Core Games

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Pokémon Go

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Raising Eevee’s Friendship

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Q&A

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Tips

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Warnings

Are you trying to complete your Pokédex, but aren’t sure how to get Eevee to change into its Psychic- and Dark-type evolutions? Espeon and Umbreon are only 2 of the possible Eevee evolutions, and they evolve under special conditions, like time of day and high friendship. If you want to add these great Pokémon to your team, keep reading and we’ll walk you through how to boost your Eevee’s friendship and make it evolve.

Things You Should Know

Raise your Eevee’s friendship level above 220 for Pokémon games between Generation II-VII, or above 160 for games Generation VIII onward.
Get an Espeon by leveling up your Eevee during the daytime after it has high friendship.
Evolve into an Umbreon by leveling up Eevee during the nighttime while it has high friendship.
Set Eevee as your Buddy in Pokémon Go and walk 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to collect 2 Candies. Evolve into Espeon during the day or into Umbreon at night.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Pokémon Scarlet, Violet, Legends: Arceus, & Core Games

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Raise your Eevee’s Friendship level to 160. Eevee starts with a base Friendship (Happiness) of 50 when you catch it or hatch it from an Egg. Boost your Eevee’s Friendship by keeping it in your party as you play the game, battling against wild Pokémon and trainers, and giving it items that raise its stats.^{[1]
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- If you have an Eevee in a Pokémon game from Generation II–VII, it starts with a base Friendship level of 70 and needs to reach 220 to evolve.^{[2]
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- Eevee’s Friendship level isn’t listed with its other stats, so you won’t be able to check its specific level. We’ll cover where to find NPCs that tell you your friendship level in each game later on.
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Level up Eevee during the day to get Espeon. Unlike other Pokémon, Eevee doesn’t need to be at a specific level for it to evolve. Go outside in the game and check the graphics. During the day, the graphics will look the brightest and on newer games, you’ll see the sun in the sky. Make your Eevee level up by using it in battle or giving it a Rare Candy and you’ll have your Espeon.^{[3]
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- In Pokémon Scarlet, Violet, and Arceus: Legends, daytime lasts for about 20–30 minutes and occurs about once an hour.
- Pokémon games in Generation VIII and earlier use your console’s clock to set the time. Typically, daytime in these games starts around 10 AM and lasts until 5–7 PM. You can even manually change the time on your console to evolve your Eevee right away.
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Evolve Eevee into Umbreon by leveling them up at night. Go outside in your game and check if the graphics have a dark blue hue over them, which means that it’s night. In the most recent games, look at the sky to see if there are the moon and stars. Take your Eevee into battle or give it a Rare Candy so it can level up and turn into an Umbreon.^{[4]
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- Nighttime lasts about 20–30 minutes in Pokémon Scarlet, Violet, or Legends: Arceus, and it occurs once an hour.
- Nighttime in games from Generation VIII and earlier usually starts around 6 PM and lasts until about 6 AM based on your console’s internal clock.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Pokémon Go

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Set Eevee as your Buddy Pokémon. Click on the “Swap Buddy” button when you open up your profile in the app. If you already caught an Eevee, search for it in your Pokémon and tap on it to choose it as your Buddy.^{[5]
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- You can change your Buddy Pokémon up to 20 times a day.
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Walk with Eevee for 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) until you earn 2 Candy. Keep your Eevee set as your buddy the entire time that you’re walking so it builds a stronger bond with you. Tap on your Eevee and look at its stats to see how long it’s been walking with you.^{[6]
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Research source} Eevee collects 1 Candy every 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), so they will automatically appear in your inventory.^{[7]
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- It’s a lot easier to keep Eevee set as your Buddy until you walk the full 10 kilometres (6.2 mi). If you switch your Buddy before you reach the full distance, you may not earn the Candies you need to evolve.
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Evolve Eevee during the daytime to get an Espeon. Wait until the sun is out and it’s the middle of the day to ensure you’re evolving your Eevee into an Espeon. Give your Eevee 25 Candies and let the animation play to finish the evolution.^{[8]
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- Look for Espeon’s silhouette next to the “Evolve” button to make sure Eevee is turning into the correct Pokémon.
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Evolve your Eevee at night to get an Umbreon. Wait until after the sun sets to evolve your Eevee when it’s dark outside. Feed your Eevee 25 Candies so it can level up and evolve into an Umbreon.^{[9]
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Name your Eevee “Sakura” or “Tamao” to evolve it into an Espeon or Umbreon. Once you get an Eevee, change its name to Sakura if you want an Espeon or Tamao if you want an Umbreon. Give your Eevee 25 Candies during the day to evolve into Espeon, or wait until nighttime if you want to put an Umbreon on your team.^{[10]
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- You can only do the naming trick once in your game.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Raising Eevee’s Friendship

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Walk around with Eevee in your party. Keep the Eevee on your team as you play the game since its Friendship will go up by 1 level with every 255 steps. Even if you never send Eevee out into a battle, it will still gain Friendship levels just by being in your party and spending time with it.^{[11]
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- In Pokémon Crystal, walk around the area on the map where you caught your Eevee since it will gain Friendship levels even faster.
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Use Eevee in Pokémon battles. If your Eevee has a higher level than the wild Pokémon or trainers in the area, don’t be afraid to send it out into battle. As Eevee defeats Pokémon and levels up, it could gain anywhere from 1–5 Friendship levels at a time.^{[12]
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- Avoid letting your Eevee faint since that will make its friendship drop anywhere from 1–10 levels. It’s okay to use Potions to heal your Eevee up, but avoid using Heal Powder, Energy Root, or Revival Herb since they all lower Friendship.
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Equip your Eevee with a Soothe Bell. Go into your items and give your Eevee the Soothe Bell as its held item. Any time your Eevee gains Friendship, the Soothe Bell will give it a 50% boost so you can evolve into Espeon or Umbreon faster. You can find a Soothe Bell:^{[13]
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- Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Delibird Presents
- Pokémon Sword and Shield: Hammerlocke
- Pokémon Sun and Moon: Route 3
- Pokémon X & Y: Shalour City
- Pokémon Black & White (1 or 2): Nimbasa City
- Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, & Platinum: Pokémon Mansion
- Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, & Emerald: Slateport City Fan Club
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Give your Eevee berries and stat-boosting vitamins. Look through the Berries section of your bag for Pomeg, Kelpsy, Qualot, Hondew, Grepa, or Tamato to give to your Eevee to help raise its Friendship. Alternatively, give your Eevee the following items to make them stronger in battles and more friendly:^{[14]
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- HP Up
- Protein
- Iron
- Calcium
- Carbos
- PP Up
- Rare Candy
- Zinc
- PP Max
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Play with your Eevee in Pokémon Camp or picnics. In Generation VIII, go into the menu where it says “Pokémon Camp” where you can hang out, play, and feed your Pokémon. In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, choose “Picnic” in the menu when you’re not in a town. Send out your Eevee and spend time feeding it, bathing it, and playing with it. Even just a few minutes will help your Eevee feel closer to you.^{[15]
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Visit the friendship checker NPC to check your Eevee’s levels. Put Eevee as the first Pokémon in your party before you talk to the friendship checker. Once they ask if you want them to look at your Pokémon, they’ll give you a rating of how much friendly your Eevee is with you. If the checker says that your Eevee is friendly or really happy with you, it’s probably ready to evolve. You can find the friendship checker:^{[16]
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- Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Cascarrafa
- Pokémon Sword and Shield: Hammerlocke
- Pokémon Sun and Moon: Konikoni City
- Pokémon X & Y: Santalune City or Laverre City
- Pokémon Black & White (1 or 2): Icirrus City or Nacrene City
- Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, & Platinum: Hearthome City, Route 213, or Eterna City
- Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, & Emerald: Verdanturf Town or Pacifidlog Town
- Pokémon Gold, Silver, & Crystal: Goldenrod City

Community Q&A

Question

My Eevee won't evolve. What do I do?

Community Answer

Be sure that you're not pressing B to stop the evolution and that the Eevee is not holding an item like the Everstone, which prevents Pokémon from evolving.
Question

Can I get Umbreon if I level it up and give it a moon stone?

Community Answer

No, the only way to get Umbreon is to level it up with high friendship at night.
Question

How do I get a soothing bag?

Community Answer

At some point your Pokemon will find one in the "super training" screen, just open the screen and keep it open. Make sure that your Pokemon are awake since they can take naps during super training and you can't find a soothing bag when they are asleep. Wake them up by tapping on them.

Warnings

Espeon and Umbreon are not available in Pokémon Red, Blue, or Yellow, or in Pokémon Let’s Go! Pikachu or Eevee since they were introduced in Generation II.

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