How to Get Umbreon in Pokemon GO

I’m pretty sure that if you took a survey of Pokemon fans and asked them what their favorite Eevee evolution was, a not-insignificant majority of them would say Umbreon. I’m not quite sure why, even as someone who loves Umbreon myself, but people are just really stoked on Umbreon for some reason. Maybe it’s the same reason people like black cats, there’s just something endearing about a little creature of darkness that loves you unconditionally. Or maybe it’s just all the cool glowy bits. Whatever the reason, if you need to have a cute black fox/cat/dog thing in your life, then here’s how to get Umbreon in Pokemon GO.

Eevee’s various evolutions all come about from a combination of catch candy and various external factors. Obviously, the first step in obtaining any Eevee evolution, let alone an Umbreon, is to catch an Eevee. Since Eevee’s a Normal type, you can find them pretty much anywhere, from your local town square to your own backyard if you’re lucky. After you catch that first one, you need to catch around 24 more of them, because every Eevee evolution requires an investment of 25 Eevee Candy.

How to get Umbreon in Pokemon GO

When it comes to getting an Umbreon, there are three confirmed ways to have your Eevee evolve into one:

1. The Random Method
2. The Name Method
3. The Proper Method

The Random Method is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. If you catch an Eevee and immediately give it the 25 Eevee Candy, assuming there are no external factors in play like Lure Modules, it will evolve into one of its forms at complete random. That means you’ve got a one in eight chance that Eevee will evolve into an Umbreon unprompted. Obviously, this is a sub-optimal method.

The Name Method can get you exactly one of all of Eevee’s evolutions, guaranteed. For each Eevee evolution, there is a special nickname associated with it. If you give your Eevee that special nickname then evolve it with the Eevee Candy, it will be guaranteed to evolve into the form that name corresponds to. In Umbreon’s case, the special nickname is “Tamao.” No, I don’t know what that’s a reference to, but it does work. You should remember, though, that this trick will only work once. Any other Eevees you nickname Tamao will not be guaranteed to evolve into Umbreons.

Finally, we have the Proper Method, the method that will ensure you get an Umbreon no matter what, though it requires the most investment of time and effort. In the mainline Pokemon games, Eevee’s evolution into Umbreon, Espeon, and Sylveon are determined by your friendship level with it, and the same is true in Pokemon GO, more or less. All you need to do is make the Eevee your Buddy, then walk a cumulative total of 10 km with it, earning at least two Eevee Candies in the process. Once you’ve crossed that threshold, you just have to give Eevee the Candy during the nighttime, and it’ll evolve into Umbreon. Remember, it has to be a night. If you do it during the day, it’ll evolve into Espeon.