You Have A Week To Catch Gigantamax Eevee In Pokémon Sword And Shield

Illustration for article titled You Have A Week To Catch Gigantamax Eevee In iPokémon Sword/i And iShield/i

Screenshot: Nintendo

Catching an Eevee isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? Catching an Eevee that’s bigger than your house.

From now through May 25, Pokémon Sword and Shield’s Gigantamax Eevee is available in the Wild Area. It’s a bit fluffier than normal Eevee—check out that mane—and tougher, too. And yes, you can capture it. There’s just one catch: You can’t evolve it.

Before this event, Gigantamax Eevee was only available to players of Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!. If you played that game and maintained a save file on the same Switch you play Sword or Shield on, the supersized furball was offered as a gift from two NPCs in the Wild Area train station. (Players of Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! would receive Gigantamax Pikachu, a version that is affectionately referred to in Pokémon fandom as Chonky-Chu.)

Eevee, of course, is a widely beloved Pokémon on its own merits. The little fella isn’t the best fighter, but, as a normal-type Pokémon, just one type (fighting) is super effective against it. It’s also impervious to ghost-type attacks. And for trainers who care purely about the cute factor, few beat Eevee there. Most Gigantamax Pokémon have formidable-sounding moves like G-Max Hydrosnipe or G-Max Wind Rage. Eevee’s move is G-Max Cuddle. Come on! How can Chonky-Chu, with G-Max Volt Crash, compare?

But the main draw of this glorified housepet—at least in the video games—is the fact that you can evolve it into one of eight extremely powerful Pokés.

Generation VI introduced the fairy-type Sylveon, a slow creature that luckily has few weaknesses and high special defense. Generation IV ushered in the ice-type Glaceon and grass-type Leafeon, both of which have relatively high defense and decent movesets. With generation II came Umbreon, the tough-as-nails dark type, and Espeon, the psychic type with staggering special attack and just the most precious little face. Finally, there’s the original trio: the fire-type Flareon; the water-type Vaporeon; and the lightning-type Jolteon, a Pokémon that doesn’t have the highest speed stat on paper but is, numbers be damned, the fastest Pokémon (and I shan’t be convinced otherwise).

Most trainers capture and level up their Eevees with the intention of evolving them into one of these stronger second forms. (Personally, I have an entire team of Eevee evolutions taking some much-deserved vacation time in Pokémon Home.) So it’s a bit disappointing to learn that Gigantamax Eevee can’t evolve, even if that is something players of Let’s Go: Eevee! and Sword and Shield have had to tolerate for some time now.

Still, if you’re interested in capturing Gigantamax Eevee, get thee to the Wild Area. Refresh your Raid Dens by connecting to the internet through Y-Comm, then look for Raid Dens emitting sky-high pillars of red light. Getting Eevee into a capturable state shouldn’t be terribly tough, especially if you have a well-leveled team. Bring a rock- or steel-type Pokémon with fighting-type moves and you’ll be all set.

You won’t be able to use Gigantamax Eevee in every battle, but if you find yourself fighting in a Power Spot, supersize that bad boy and use G-Max Cuddle. Who in their right mind would want to fight back against that?

More from the world of Pokémon:

source: gamezpot.com