Eevee

Conception and characteristics

The design and art for Eevee and its evolutions were provided by Japanese video game designer and illustrator Ken Sugimori, a friend of the Pokémon franchises' creator, Satoshi Tajiri. In the original Japanese games, the Pokémon was known by its name Eievui, a name which has similar prefixes to its current English name. However, before the English versions of the games were released, Eevee was originally going to be named Eon rather than Eevee. It was renamed to "Eevee" shortly before the English releases of Pokémon Red and Blue.

According to the Pokémon video games, Eevee is a mammalian creature with brown fur, a bushy tail that has a cream-colored tip, and a furry collar that is also cream-colored. Eevee has brown eyes, big ears, and pink paw pads. Eevee is said to have an irregularly shaped genetic structure, enabling it to evolve into multiple Pokémon. Eevee are quite rare in the games, but are canonically able to live almost anywhere, as they may evolve to suit their surroundings.

In the video games

In the Red, Blue, Yellow versions, the player receives one Eevee at the Pokémon Mansion in Celadon City, and they must trade to receive the Pokédex info on the other evolutions (Red, Blue, and Yellow only). In Pokémon Yellow, the player was to receive an Eevee from Professor Oak at the beginning of the game as the player's starter. However, the player's rival decides to take the Eevee before the player can obtain it. Due to this, the player is forced to choose the wild Pikachu that Professor Oak had caught earlier as a starter. The player's rival meanwhile evolves his Eevee into any of the three evolutions available, depending on the outcomes of the player's encounters with him in the early parts of the game. In Gold, Silver, and Crystal, after finding Bill in Ecruteak City, the player can go back to his house in Goldenrod City to receive an Eevee from him. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl as well as Platinum, Eevee can be obtained by Bebe after getting the National Dex (In Platinum, Eevee can be obtained pre-National Dex). In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen as well as Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Eevee can be found in the same areas that it was obtained from the original games.

Eevee is a photographable Pokémon in Pokémon Snap. In Pokémon Stadium 2, Eevee stars in its own minigame called "Eager Eevee". Players have to run around in circles while Aipom raises and lowers a cover on berries. The object is to be among the first to grab some of the berries. In Pokémon XD, Eevee is featured as the main character's starter Pokémon. The player also has the option of evolving their Eevee into one of its evolutions that appeared prior to Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team, Eevee is available as the protagonist, in the naive nature if the player chooses female. Eevee reappears as a starter Pokémon in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Sky. Eevee appears as a non-player character in PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure and its sequel, PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond, as do all of its then-seven evolutions. Eevee also appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a Poké Ball summon, using Take Down if any opponents are within range.

In the anime

In the anime, Eevee first appeared in The Battling Eevee Brothers. A little boy named Mikey was hiding the Evolution Pokémon from his three older brothers because they wanted him to evolve it. However, when Mikey's Eevee single-handedly defeated Team Rocket, they were able to accept the fact that Mikey wanted to keep his Eevee just the way it is. Ash's longtime rival Gary Oak uses an Eevee of great quality that eventually evolves into Umbreon. May has an Eevee that hatched from an egg, which she used in Pokémon Contests all across the Kanto and Johto region. When May traveled to Sinnoh, she took it to Route 217 to evolve into a Glaceon. The Kimono Girls who first appeared in the Pokémon Gold and Silver games, also make an appearance with their Pokémon (all of which are evolutions of Eevee) in Trouble's Brewing. The youngest of the Kimono girls had an unevolved Eevee (the only of the sisters to have one) in this episode though it later evolved into an Espeon later on in the episode "Espeon, Not Included".

In other media

In Pokémon Adventures, Red is in possession of an Eevee which had been experimented on by Team Rocket. As a result, it could transform back and forth from the three evolutions Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon along with its base form, allowing it greater tactical ability in fighting other Pokémon. Eventually, it evolved into an Espeon, losing its special ability to interchange abilities. In the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, the character Mikey (who appeared in the anime episode: "The Battling Eevee Brothers") makes an appearance with his own Eevee and within the chapter that he appears in, Mikey attempts to prove to his brothers that he doesn't need to evolve his Eevee to win battles.

In the crowdsourced social experiment, Twitch Plays Pokémon, an Eevee was the source of much frustration when, while trying to evolve it into a Vaporeon to learn the move Surf, the players accidentally used a Fire Stone on it, evolving it into a Flareon. This setback led to Flareon being called the "false prophet" and became one of the most famous moments of the event.

Promotion and reception

Since its debut appearance, Eevee and its evolutions have received generally positive reception. GamesRadar described Eevee as "one of the cutest and most varied of all Pokémon", and in a later article described it as one of the most "enduringly popular". IGN called it "the most mystifying, peculiar, eccentric, and adaptable creature in the game." IGN editor “Pokémon of the Day Chick" also stated that Eevee was a creature "a thousand times cuter than a puppy" and she also stated that its evolutions were also "powerful for a cute Pokémon". IGN's Jack DeVries cited Eevee as "one of the cutest Pokémon". Eevee was noted as one of the most popular Pokémon at the offices of The Pokémon Company. Author Loredana Lipperini noted Eevee as being one of the "most mysterious Pokémon in the series". Technology Tell writer Jenni Lada noted that Eevee is a character "whom should feature" in Super Smash Bros., citing its customization "potential". Author Maria S. Barbo called Eevee "the most unique Pokémon".

Eevee is the most traded Pokémon in the games' "Wonder Trade" feature. A special Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Online Competition known as the "Eevee Friendly Match" limits participants' Pokémon to Eevee and its evolutions only. In a list of the "Top 10 Cutest Video Game Characters", Eevee was ranked fourth, with Screw Attack's Prowler64 writing, "There are many cute Pokémon, but in my opinion, Eevee is the cutest and makes it onto this list."

Due to its popularity, Eevee (and its evolutions) have frequently been used in much of the Pokémon merchandising, such as toys. Eevee is a part of a set of Pokémon figures released for Pokémon Rumble U, with IGN labelling it as a "fan favourite". While Eevee and its evolutions have appeared in the Pokémon Trading Card game as common cards, they were featured in the recent release of the Majestic Dawn set as Eevee and its evolutions were of the main focus. Eevee, as well as its evolutions, were also featured in the Burger King kid's meal promotion of Pokémon cards. A special Eevee-themed Nintendo 3DS XL was released in Japan in celebration of the 15th anniversary of Pokémon Centre retail establishments. Eevee has also been a part of various Nintendo events, which allow the players to obtain special Pokémon that are being distributed [one example in Eevee's case was a shiny (a rare alternatively coloured Pokémon) Eevee distribution]. Eevee was also one of the several first generation Pokémon to get a special DVD (Volume 6) with episodes starring itself during the 10th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise. A series of cocktails by Tumblr user meowpurrnom based on evolutions of Eevee was featured in a Polygon article.