Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield have ushered in a new era of Pokemon on Nintendo Switch, complete with new ways of catching & evolving them. Players and fans may still remember the days when Eevee evolved into just Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon, but no longer is the little critter limited to these three choices for Eeveelution.
Just before Turffield are wheat fields where Pokemon Sword and Shield players can catch themselves an Eevee. From there players will need to level up their friendship with the creature, and by fostering a the right conditions, players can ensure their Eevee evolves into Umbreon, Espeon, or Sylveon.
Umbreon
After catching Eevee, the first thing Pokemon Sword and Shield players must do is get their friendship level up first. This is accomplished by playing with Eevee in the Pokemon Camp, where they can feed it Curries a few times. To check the friendship level, players will need to reach Hammerlocke. To the right of the Pokemon center is a house, and inside is a boy who can check the friendship level.
Once Eevee is prepared to level, Pokemon Sword and Shield players must wait until night. After the sun has set, simply try using XP Candy, Rare Candy, or battling/catching monsters to trigger Eevee's level-up.
In Pokemon Sword and Shield, players can force the game to become night by going to the Nintendo Switch Menu and changing their system time.
Espeon
To evolve Eevee into Espeon, players will have to follow many of the same steps as evolving Eevee into Umbreon. After Pokemon Sword and Shield players have gotten their friendship up with Eevee, they'll just have to evolve Eevee during the day rather than at night.
If players are experiencing trouble building friendship with Eevee, just trying giving Eevee a Soothe Bell, which is obtained by a girl from the same house beside the Hammerlocke Pokecenter.
Sylveon
Sylveon is uniquely difficult to evolve, and because of its cute design this has made Sylveon a highly coveted Eeveelution. As usual, the first step for evolving Eevee into Sylveon will be for players to increase their friendship with it.
The key move here is that players ensure Eevee has learned a Fairy-type move. Luckily the move Baby-Doll Eyes, which is available to Eevee early on, will check this box. If players have said no to it already, they can make their way back to the Pokemon Center to relearn it.
Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield are both available now for Nintendo Switch.