How to evolve Eevee into Sylveon in Pokémon Go – secret name techniques

The eighth and final Eevee evolution has finally been added to Pokémon Go and while it can’t be caught there is a shortcut to getting it.

It’s an important moment for Pokémon Go this week, as it finally gets a complete collection of Eevee evolutions. But while getting hold of Sylveon isn’t supposed to be easy, it is if you know the trick.

Originally introduced in Pokémon X and Y (the Lumious Legends Y event is currently taking place in Pokémon Go), Sylveon is a fairy-type pokémon – and to prove it, it’s white and pink with ribbons and bows. In other words, industrial strength cute.

In the mainline console games you could only evolve one by having a high affection or friendship rating with an Eevee, but things work a little differently in Pokémon Go.

How to evolve Eevee into Sylveon in Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go has always handled evolution its own – until relevantly recently it didn’t have them at all – and for Eevee the original evolutions are supposed to be completely random.

Once you get the option to evolve Eevee, by spending 25 Eevee Candy, and press the button you have a random chance of it turning into Vaporeon, Jolteon or Flareon (the Gen I evolutions).

However, there is a sneaky trick where if you give your Eevee a specific name (based on characters from the cartoon) before you evolve it it’ll turn into a specific form.

For Sylveon the name is ‘Kira’ but be aware that you can only use the nickname trick once per evolution, as after that you can never use it again on the same Pokémon Go account.

If you want to evolve another Sylveon after that you’ll need to collect 70 buddy hearts with an Eevee, so that your relationship is ranked as ‘Great Buddy’. Then just use 25 Eevee Candy in the normal fashion and it’ll evolve into a Sylveon.

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