How to evolve Eevee in Pokemon GO

By now, almost everyone should be hip to how to evolve Pokemon in Pokemon GO (and if not, there's a guide for that). Just gather enough candy of the appropriate type, feed them all to the Pokemon, and evolution happens. It's a miracle that would astound Darwin.

For every rule, though, an exception lurks in the shadows. And when it comes to Pokemon evolution, that exception has a name: Eevee.

A fan favorite for her (his?) cuteness and versatility, the reason Eevee can't be pigeonholed is because she can actually evolve into multiple forms. There's a lore-based reason for this, I'm sure, but I confess to being uncertain what it is. In any case, Eevee has always been a wild card, able to evolve down different pathways that correspond to the classic Pokemon types: water, fire, leaf, etc.

Though Eevee's evolutions have grown over the years, the fact that Pokemon GO is rooted in the original 151 Pokemon places some restrictions on her forms. To be precise, she can change into just three different evolved Pokemon, and you've probably encountered some or all of them as you've played: Flareon (fire), Jolteon (electric) and Vaporeon (water).

Ah, but is there a way to determine how to evolve Eevee into one of them specifically? For instance, do you have to hold your phone over a fire to get her to transform into Flareon?

The answers to those questions are maybe and probably not, respectively.

Thanks to our friends at FanSided, we know of a Reddit thread that has been testing different theories about Eevee since Pokemon GO launched. And so far, their data seems to be inconclusive. Let's check out a couple of popular theories this thread seems to have debunked:

Eevee evolves based on the second move they know when you capture them

This seemed like a promising theory since Eevees found in the game know one of three different second moves or attacks: Body Slam, Swift, and Dig. It would be very straightforward if each of those moves simply corresponded to one of the evolved forms.

Alas, that's not the case. as people have been reporting consistently evolving Eevees with the same second move and finding they end up in different forms.

Eevee evolves based on the ownership of the nearest gym

Another neat theory if it has proven to be correct, since there are three teams and each of their colors/types would match right up with an Eeveelution (sorry). But the redditors eventually disproved this as well.

So where does that leave us? With the most interesting theory of all ...

Eevee evolves randomly, unless you give it a specific nickname

Multiple redditors in that thread report that while the base system for the evolutions may indeed be random, you can defeat it by using the option to nickname your Eevee.

To choose a nickname, simply tap on the Eevee's profile in your Pokemon collection. Then tap again on the name. You'll see the following pop-up window:

To get an evolved Eevee of a certain type, enter the following nickname:

• Flareon - Pyro
• Vaporeon - Rainer
• Jolteon - Sparky

Is it foolproof? Even we're not sure of that yet. If you test this method out yourself, be sure to drop us a comment below and let us know how it turned out.