A Definitive Ranking Of Every Eeveelution

My name is Katy, and I am not exactly a diehard gamer like Video Game Town’s other contributors. However, I am a lifelong fan of Pokémon as a franchise who grew up watching the show and movies and collecting the figures and cards. My fiancé, Jared Russo, has gotten me — very belatedly — hooked on the games for the Switch. I adored “Let’s Go Pikachu,” and I’m now obsessed with “Pokémon Scarlet.”

The Pokémon Company is calling 2025 “The Year Of Eevee,” but if I had my druthers, that would be every single year. I’ve always been a fan of the Eeveelutions, and not just because I love a good portmanteau.

Once upon a time, I would have said it was barely a stretch to call innocent-looking Eevee and the eight different Pokémon they can evolve into (depending on stone and circumstance) feminist icons. Embodiments of how you can be cute and dainty, but also kick serious ass. However, in researching this article, I was disturbed to learn that 87.5% of Eevees and their evolutions are male, which does not compute for me. I always use she/her pronouns for my Eeveelutions because they are the queens that I aspire to be. That said, gender is a construct, and I refuse to let this bother me.

The Eeveelutions are all very powerful, each having their base stats pros and cons, and all capable of learning excellent moves. I had a Flareon in my final party to take on the Pokémon League in “Let’s Go,” and I’m leveling up my Espeon and Umbreon for my final challenges in “Scarlet.” So today, we are not here to compare these cuties in terms of skill or strength. No, this is just about how much I like each one, and you can challenge me and my aforementioned Espeon to a battle if you disagree.

Note that Eevee itself is not listed here because they are objectively a perfect angel being, and that’s all that needs to be said about that.

Espeon (Psychic type)

You know that quote from “Crazy, Stupid, Love” where Steve Carell describes his wife as “the perfect combination of sexy and cute?” That’s Espeon. Espeon is purple with beautiful amethyst eyes. They are simultaneously the kitty cat you want to cuddle and the diva you want to be. They’re a fan fave for a reason, and they’re even cuter paired as a counterpart to Umbreon, who also ranks high on this list. Psychic moves and psychic Pokémon are particularly badass. Espeon is magical and majestic, so there’s nothing to debate.

Flareon (Fire type)

I feel tremendous guilt for not putting Flareon in the number one spot. When I was six, and my friends and I would pretend to be our favorite Pokémon at recess, I was very often Flareon. I have a plush Flareon from the NYC Nintendo Store (formerly the Pokémon Center… those were the days). I would typically say Flareon is my favorite Eeveelution, but when it came time to rank them, I did have to admit that the art for Espeon is a bit better, and purple is a better color than orange. Again, my methods are very scientific.

Anyway, Fire Pokémon are a top-tier group, and they count some of the cutest and strongest pocket monsters among their ranks. Burning enemies and making me say “awww” while doing it. 10/10 — want to cuddle Flareon. 10/10 — would probably end up in the emergency room if I did.

Umbreon (Dark type)

Umbreon is Jared’s favorite, and fittingly, Espeon’s counterpart. We had heated arguments trying to level up my first Eevee in “Scarlet” because both Espeon and Umbreon evolve from an Eevee with high friendship depending on whether it’s day or night.

You can’t track your Pokémon’s friendship level exactly; you just have to raise it with certain items or by battling and interacting with the Pokémon. Whenever I would bring out my Eevee in the daytime, Jared would freak out that it was going to become an Espeon instead of an Umbreon. I didn’t really care because I love both of those guys. He ended up getting his wish, and I got an Umbreon first, but we’ve since collected all eight Eeveelutions in the game.

Umbreon walks the line of intimidating-but-not-scary far better than many of the Pokémon that have been released since. In fact, you will see in this article that I am very biased towards earlier generations, when the creators were coming up with their most clever puns and precious designs and not monsters that look like *checks notes* car keys.

Umbreon has the vibes of a cool kid who rides a motorcycle, but is super nice to their kid brother. Am I describing Seto Kaiba from “Yu-Gi-Oh!?” Am I attracted to Umbreon? We can unpack that later. TL;DR, Umbreon would never be mean to you, but would look great in a leather jacket.

Sylveon (Fairy type)

Sylveon would probably be even higher if it weren’t for my aforementioned preference for Pokémon that actually existed when I was a kid. Pokémon that I probably had toy figurines of, which my mom eventually sold on eBay. Let it be known I kept my Flareon and maybe my Espeon.

Sylveon is actually the newest of the Eeveelutions, and by far the best of the later additions. I love Fairy-type Pokémon for the same reason I love the Eeveelutions overall — sweet exteriors that pack a punch. Much like our beloved Espeon and Umbreon, Sylveon evolves with high friendship, but specifically if your Eevee knows a Fairy-type move.

Sylveon gets extra points for being beloved as a symbol of the Trans community for matching their flag. Excellent vibes. Excellent aesthetics. We love you, Sylveon. Why weren’t you around when we were kids?

Vaporeon (Water type)

Cool, majestic, and an excellent member of the original Eeveelutions crew. I adore Vaporeon’s mermaid tail, but the fins around the head really detract from the cuteness.

I think I was a bit scared of Vaporeon as a kid, if I’m being honest. I do appreciate that Vaporeon is smiling in their Bulbapedia pic, and they can definitely be cute when making a face like that, but not in the same league (a Pokémon pun, see what I did there?) as the top four.

Leafeon (Grass type)

A decent Pokémon that loses points in my millennial mind for being a later addition. Honestly, very surprising that there wasn’t a grass-type Eeveelution until Gen IV! Leafeon’s design is gorgeous, but as a Pokémon, they are more beautiful than they are cute, and that’s not what I’m looking for when deciding how to evolve an Eevee. They are absolutely serving looks, though, so good for them.