So here's the first special episode of B+UP, where I cover every evolution of Eevee to date. Some of them are fairly good, some of them... not so much.
Vaporeon
Typing: Water's pretty much the most common type out there as of this writing, and it's one that's easy to work with. Only two weaknesses, and four resistances. Ice-type resistance is always nice to have.
Stats: Vaporeon fits into the "bulky water" archetype of Slowbro, Swampert, Suicune, and probably a bunch of other Pokémon whose names begin with "S". The basic concept of this archetype is giving up speed for health and defense. Physical defense is actually Vaporeon's weakest stat, at 60, but special defense comes just shy of 100. What makes Vaporeon shine, however, is its base HP of 130 and special attack of 110.
Moves: With that HP, Vaporeon makes excellent use of Substitute; if you've trained your HP stat, you can wind up with a substitute that can take a max-power Seismic Toss or Night Shade. But Vaporeon's not just a one-trick pony (or mermaid-dog-thing in this case). On the attack, you have Surf, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Signal Beam, and Hidden Power. Like the other Eeveelutions, where Vaporeon excels is support; you get Baton Pass, which can be combined with the aforementioned Substitute, Wish, and Acid Armor.
Ability: Water Absorb allows you to restore up to 25% of your HP when hit by a Water move. It's useful for nullifying an opponent's Surf or Waterfall. If you're playing doubles, you can use Water Absorb to heal off your own teammate's Surf, making Vaporeon an ideal partner for other Water-types.
Summary: Vaporeon combines support capability and offensive power into a useful package.
Jolteon
Typing: I'd say mono-Electric is above-average as far as types go. Even if it has a weakness to the fairly-common Ground, that's still only one weakness.
Stats: Jolteon's stats set it up to be a special attacker, or even an outright sweeper. 110 base speed, 130 base special attack, and 95 special defense put it on par with Raikou and Zapdos as far as Electrics go. When you're able to compete on the same level as legendaries, you're doing your job well.
Moves: Jolteon's stats are for special attacking, and special attacking it excels at. For Electric-type attacks alone, you have the option of Thunderbolt, Thunder, Discharge, Shock Wave, or Charge Beam. In addition, you also have the option of Hidden Power, Signal Beam, and Shadow Ball for extra type coverage. For support, you have Thunder Wave, Agility, Roar, Baton Pass, Substitute, and Wish.
Ability: Volt Absorb allows Jolteon to restore up to 25% of its health if hit by an Electric move. This includes non-damaging moves, so feel free to swap in on an expected Thunder Wave. Use it like you would Motor Drive; bring out something to draw an Electric move, then go for the switch.
Summary: Jolteon is one of the better Electrics in the game, although it's got a lot of competition.
Flareon
Typing: As I elaborated on in my Charizard review, now really isn't a good time to be Fire-type. Earthquake and Surf are pretty much THE dominant physical and special attacks, and Stealth Rock made pretty much anything with a Rock-type weakness a liability.
Stats: Flareon's stats lean a bit toward "glass cannon". 65 HP and 60 defense put it in the club with a lot of Pokémon that don't get used much either. Its 65 base speed doesn't help survivability much either. What Flareon does have, though, is triple-digit special defense and 130 base attack.
Moves: And this is where that 130 attack goes to waste. The strongest (and in fact only) physical Fire-type move Flareon gets is... Fire Fang. Yeah. The rest of its physical moves aren't too impressive either.Your only other real options are Superpower and Return, unless you're willing to put up with Iron Tail's inaccuracy or Take Down's recoil. The special side isn't much better; besides a bunch of Fire-type moves, all you really get is Shadow Ball and Hidden Power. Flareon has a fairly large support movepool, with Substitute, Baton Pass, Roar, Will-O-Wisp, Wish and Heal Bell among other things, but unless you desperately want a Fire-type cleric for your team that's not going to carry you very far.
Ability: Flash Fire's a nice ability in theory; the ability to nullify a Fire-type move in exchange for boosting your own Fire damage sounds pretty good. The problem is that Flareon doesn't really have what it takes to fully take advantage of it.
Summary: Flareon could be good, but it just doesn't have the movepool to take advantage of its stats.Can we get Flare Blitz for Generation V, please?
Espeon
Typing: Psychic's far from what it was back in Generation I. Ghosts and Bugs have become more and more viable since then, and the Dark-type's fairly popular with heavy hitters Tyranitar and Weavile and moves like Pursuit.
Stats: Take Jolteon. Swap its Special Attack and Speed around. You now have Espeon, more or less.
Moves: Unlike Flareon, Espeon actually has something to take advantage of its dominant stat. Psychic's a reliable STAB move, plus Grass Knot, Shadow Ball, Signal Beam, and Hidden Power. Along with the usual Baton Pass, Wish, and Curse, Espeon also gets Calm Mind.
Ability: Synchronize can be fairly useful. If you know your opponent is going to attempt to punish a switch with a status move like Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave but have nothing to resist it, send in Espeon and punish them right back.
Summary: Espeon's a fairly good Psychic-type, but that doesn't go as far as it used to.
Umbreon
Typing: Mono-Dark isn't bad on the defensive, but it isn't amazing either. Its two weaknesses, Bug and Fighting, aren't as common as things like Earthquake or Waterfall, but you'll still want to be ready to retreat just in case.
Stats: Umbreon's stats say "tank". 95 base HP and triple-digit defenses make it effective on the defense. However, this comes at the cost of offensive capability.
Moves: With Umbreon's stats geared more towards defense, it makes a good harasser. Toxic, Confuse Ray, Taunt, Torment and Yawn can wreak havoc on opponents. Moonlight can extend Umbreon's staying power. Despite Umbreon's lack of power, you're still going to want to put an attack on it so an opponent's Taunt doesn't shut you down. It's fortunate then that Umbreon gets two good Dark-type moves. Payback doubles in power after taking a hit, which works well with Umbreon's defenses and lack of speed. Pursuit can force an opponent into a tough choice between taking damage from status or switching and taking a hit. Like all Eeveelutions, Umbreon gets the usual combination of Baton Pass, Wish, and Curse.
Ability: Umbreon doesn't use Synchronize nearly as well as Espeon does. With Umbreon usually used to inflict Toxic on opponents, bouncing a status condition back can interfere with your strategy.
Summary: Umbreon's great for annoying the hell out of your opponent.
Leafeon
Typing: For how bad the Ice-type has fared, Ice Beam's still popular, and with Fire-type moves being kept around to deal with troublesome Steels, mono-Grass has a rough road ahead of it. The saving grace: Poison-type attacks don't really see anything resembling use.
Stats: If Jolteon and Espeon are geared it towards special attacking, Leafeon's stats gear it towards physical attacking. 110 base attack isn't as impressive as Flareon's 130, but unlike it, Leafeon's attack is backed up by 130 base defense and 95 base speed, meaning it can outspeed heavier opponents and tank lighter ones. Leafeon's HP and Special Defense aren't too good though, so you might want to keep it away from special attackers even if you don't have a weakness.
Moves: Leafeon doesn't really have much in the way of attack options; all it gets that's particularly worth using is Leaf Blade and X-Scissor. On the support side, Leafeon gets the standard Eeveelution loadout of Wish Baton Pass, and Curse, along with Swords Dance and Grasswhistle. If you're using Leafeon as part of a sun team, Synthesis could be a viable recovery option.
Ability: Leaf Guard prevents status problems when sun is present. Keep in mind this won't prevent self-inflicted status such as Rest. Even so, this makes Leafeon viable for Sunny Day teams, allowing it to switch in on Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave without penalty.
Summary: It's certainly better than Flareon as far as physical Eeveelutions go, and makes a great partner for anything with Sunny Day.
Glaceon
Typing: With the rise of the Rock-type in Generation IV, the Ice-type has fared just as bad, if not worse, than the Fire-type. Mono-Ice is fortunately rare, as it has a handful of weaknesses and only one resistance... to itself.
Stats: Swap Flareon's physical and special stats to get Glaceon's. Yeah, that's a bad sign right there.
Moves: Well, at least unlike Flareon, Glaceon gets something to run off of 130 special attack. You have your choice of Ice Beam or Blizzard for STAB, Shadow Ball, and Signal Beam. Glaceon also gets the standard Baton Pass, Wish, and Curse.
Ability: Snow Cloak increases evasion during hail. However, with hailstorms harder to set up compared to the other weather effects, it's not as useful as its counterpart Sand Veil.
Summary: Poor typing, subpar stats, and a hard-to-use ability contribute to making this one one of the worst Eeveelutions. If you want Special Attack, go with Jolteon or Espeon instead.
When we get back to regular episodes, I'll be reviewing a contender for the Electric-type throne, and the type's royal jester.
