Why I love Eevee

Image courtesy of http://pokemonwikia.com

Hello you, the name is Luca but you can call me Luca. So I bought into the Pokémon franchise back when Diamond and Pearl came out, and literally none of the others afterwards, and I had such a blast! I don't play the games anymore but if I did, I have my dream team which consist of the following; Lucario, Absol, Blaziken, Milotic, Togekiss and last but not least, Eevee.

Probably an odd choice considering the fully-evolved, cool and elegant Pokémon that you see one like Eevee, but there's a lot of person sentimental value in my choosing of Eevee, allow me to take you on a history lesson. Beginning when I first got into Pokémon, I really do wish I was able to tell you all how I saw Eevee for the first time but I can't but I will try.

When generation four material began hitting the forefront of my awareness, I had been watching from a distance at my brother playing all the generation two games (and subsequently having a Level 100 Feraligatr as a result) as well as all my other friends, I decided I'd give it a go. My parents bought me an out of date Pokémon game guide that went up to Generation Three and I gave it a flick through, and very few Pokémon really stood out to me. This was until I found Pokémon number 133, that being Eevee, the evolution Pokémon. (My mum believes it was because of my brother allowing me to have his Pokémon cards and an Eevee was in there, I honestly can't remember.)

What was it that caught my attention at first? Bare in mind I was a barely 11 probably at the time but I've just turned 21 now and my opinion is no less true, I just thought Eevee was the cutest thing I had ever seen. I adore its design, with the rabbit ears, thick mane, big eyes, tiny legs and paws as well as its big fox tail, there is nothing in Eevee's design that holds it back in my opinion.

But there was more to Eevee than just being cute, as I have already said that it's known as the Evolution Pokémon. Evolving in Pokémon is something I believe a lot of you will know very well but for those who don't, allow me to teach you; depending on particular circumstances, a Pokémon will evolve and result in becoming an all new kind of Pokémon, such as with the one that everyone knows being Pikachu, which evolves from Pichu if the bond between Pokémon and trainer is maximised and then can go on to become Raichu should it be exposed to an in-game item called a Thunderstone.

Different Pokémon evolve in different ways, mostly from levelling up as a result of winning battles but in most cases, the evolved forms always result in never steering too far from its previous form in regards to type. The Pikachu family remains Electric-Type throughout and it's very rare that you see a Pokémon have a vastly varied evolution chain, which is why Eevee is so unique.


Image courtesy of www.game7.de

Eevee can evolve into one of as of now, eight different kinds of Pokémon. Initially back in the first generation of Pokémon, the Normal-Type Eevee was joined by its three vastly different evolutions, which were the Water-Type Vaporeon, the Fire-Type Flareon and the Electric-Type Jolteon, all of which evolved from Eevee when exposed to a Water Stone, Fire Stone or Thunderstone. Followed up in the second generation, the Psychic-Type Espeon and Dark-Type Umbreon, both of which evolved when the Eevee has fully bonded with its trainer although it would evolve into Espeon during the day and Umbreon at night.

Skipping a generation and we arrive at four, and added to the list were the Grass-Type Leafeon and the Ice-Type Glaceon, which would evolve from Eevee should it level up within the vicinity of a Moss or Ice Rock located on a Pokémon game's map. Finally we find ourselves at the Fairy-Type Sylveon, the generation six addition that Eevee would evolve into should it know a Fairy-Type move and have at least two levels of Affection points from Pokémon-Amie game mode.

Eevee evolutions or as the portmanteau is, 'Eeveelutions', are incredible and if I had to pick a favourite out of the eight, it would probably be Espeon though I may have a different pick each day. It is said that Eevee's unstable genetic code results in its many different evolutionary forms due to the need to adapt to harsh surroundings, which is fascinating to me even though it's fictional.. sadly.

Also what is to say that with the juggernaut that is the Pokémon franchise at this point, that Eevee won't get more evolved forms? We may see a Dragon-Type called Dracoeon, a Poison-Type called Toxiceon or a Ghost-Type called Spookeon. But whatever joins the Eeveelution tree, one thing won't change, that being how I wouldn't evolve my Eevee.

I have always pictured myself as a Pokémon trainer with an Eevee perched up on my shoulder, because we can dream right? Boy wouldn't having Pokémon be real just be awesome? We have all had that thought, haven't we? I'd have my Eevee as my starter Pokémon, and yes I am aware of how much of a child I sound. But that never stopped me.

I'm also very aware of how much of a weird vibe this gives off because Pokémon has always been seen as a kids game, and I'm gawking over a Pokémon that is traditionally seen as quite girly since I'm only really supposed to like the cool Pokémon like Lucario, Absol and Blaziken. But I am not ashamed, because as I write this, I have my Build-A-Bear stuffed Eevee under my arm (Build-A-Bear is incredible by the way), and on my walls I have two separate Eeveelutions posters, and a few letters from my close friend Nadine. We both love Pokémon.

We will be meeting in June when I go over to her home country of the Netherlands to watch the MotoGP with her and I am so excited to finally meet her! She has drawn me a picture of an Eevee which looks incredible, she has also drawn us both as Pokémon, me as a Riolu (The pre-evolved form of Lucario) and her as an Eevee since I gave her the nickname Eevee. One time being in a Christmas card which looked like it was done very impromptu but still unbelievably detailed and emotive, and another time she drew a picture for my birthday last Monday that she has made plans to make it look even better so we can take it home and frame it.

Oh and lastly, I got her a Build-A-Bear Eevee wearing pajamas that its ears and tail can stick through that is actually sat on the end of my bed and we will be sending off to her house for Christmas. I have no clue where I was going with any of this now, I just wrote it all down and I don't want to get rid of it.

My point is, I'm not ashamed with how much I love Eevee. I used to get weird looks from my peers back in primary school but it's over 10 years later and will be another ten years and I doubt I'll grow out of it. After all, it's not how old you are but how you are old!

Finally as cheesy and cliché it may sound, I saw a fan edit of Eevee back when I was just getting into Pokémon, which was really inspirational to me. It was a load of clips from the anime revolving around episodes to do with Eevee and the Eeveelutions, and it was set to this song called No One by Aly and AJ, and seeing it as a 10 or 12 year old (Maybe even 11 lol), it was something I sat on at that point in my life.

The lyrics went something like "And I ask myself, who do I want to be? Do I want to throw away the key, and invent a whole new me? I tell myself, no one but me", and the song really suited the idea of Eevee as a whole. You have a Pokémon that has so many paths to go down in regards to what it can become, and whilst the whole world may tell you to be one thing, nobody should feel obligated to become anything other than the best version of themselves.

Ending this off, I want to know what is your dream pick of six Pokémon? If they were real, ideally what would be your selection and which one would be your main one? As you know, for me it's Eevee of course, Lucario, Blaziken, Absol, Togekiss and Milotic.

Also I highly recommend everyone goes to experience how Build-A-Bear makes their stuff. It's incredible to witness the amount of love, care and detail goes into making a Build-A-Bear, having made my Eevee when I went to Scotland having been really upset after finding out Roxy's fate in Kingsman to be cheered up with my Eevee cuddly plushie, it warmed my heart so much. I'll be heading back up to Build-A-Bear to have mine fitted with a sound device to make the noise an Eevee would.

I know it's seen as girly and childish but I'm a 21 year old man and it makes me happy. I will not compromise myself to maintain an image of forced societal manliness and close off my emotions for anyone, heck I've never held back before so why should I stop now? Eevee is one of the few things that never fails to make me happy, and if that makes me seem like less of a man then so be it.

Image is my own

Alright! That will be all from me, thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. If you want to see more of my stuff then either follow me on Twitter @TheLucaFormat or have my articles sent straight to your inbox, go to the 'Follow By Email' option if you can find it to the right of your screen.

So until we meet again!
Luca.