You can’t catch Espeon in Pokémon X or Y. You evolve Eevee into it. Catch an Eevee on Route 10 (20% in the yellow flowers, 5% in the grass). Raise its friendship to 220 or more, then level it up between 4:00 AM and 7:59 PM on your 3DS clock. Two things can steal the evolution first: Sylveon, if Eevee has two or more Pokémon-Amie hearts and still knows Baby-Doll Eyes, and the Moss Rock or Ice Rock, if you level up on Route 20 or in Frost Cavern. Pokémon Y works exactly the same way.
This guide covers Pokémon X and Pokémon Y on Nintendo 3DS and 2DS, up to the final version 1.5. None of the updates changed how Eevee evolves. Sun and Moon, Sword and Shield and Pokémon GO all use different rules, so their numbers don’t apply here.
Espeon in five steps
- Get an Eevee. Walk through the yellow flowers on Route 10, between Cyllage City and Geosenge Town.
- Stop Sylveon from taking over. Have Eevee forget Baby-Doll Eyes at the Move Deleter in Dendemille Town, or simply never open Pokémon-Amie with it.
- Raise its friendship to 220 or more. Give it the Soothe Bell, keep it in your party, and use vitamins, level-ups and the Cyllage City massage.
- Check its friendship with the woman in the Pokémon Fan Club in Laverre City.
- Level it up during the day. Between 4:00 AM and 7:59 PM, and not on Route 20 or in Frost Cavern, win a battle with it or give it a Rare Candy.
You can’t catch Espeon in Pokémon X
Espeon isn’t in any wild encounter table in X or Y: no grass, no hordes, no Friend Safari slot, and no gift. Its Pokédex area map stays empty. The only ways to get one are evolving an Eevee or trading with someone who has one.
Get an Eevee first
Route 10: yellow flowers vs grass
Route 10 (the Menhir Trail) runs north from Cyllage City to Geosenge Town, lined with standing stones. You can reach it once you’ve beaten the Cyllage City Gym. Eevee shows up in both kinds of encounter, but it’s four times more common in the yellow flower beds:
| Where on Route 10 | Eevee’s chance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow flowers | 20% | 19–20 |
| Ordinary grass | 5% | 21 |
Eevee’s catch rate is 45, so bring Great Balls or Ultra Balls, or a Luxury Ball if you have one (it speeds up friendship later). Eevee is male 87.5% of the time; gender doesn’t matter for Espeon.
Check your Eevee’s moves after the catch. A wild Pokémon knows the last four moves it learned by level, so a level 19 Eevee from the flowers still has Baby-Doll Eyes, a Fairy-type move and half of the Sylveon condition. Level 20 and 21 Eevee have already replaced it with Swift, Quick Attack, Bite and Refresh. Eevee learns another Fairy move, Charm, at level 29.
The Maid’s Eevee in the hotels
A Maid moves between six of the small Kalos hotels (Camphrier, Ambrette, Cyllage, Geosenge, Coumarine and Couriway), one per day, in the room nearest the stairs on the second floor. Talk to her on three separate days, and on the fourth she trades you a female level 5 Eevee nicknamed Stevie for any Pokémon. Stevie holds a Rare Candy. Like any traded Pokémon, it starts with low friendship, so treat it like a fresh catch. Keep the Rare Candy for the final daytime level-up.
Friend Safari
After the Hall of Fame, a Normal-type safari in Kiloude City can have Eevee as its third Pokémon, at level 30. You can still add friends by Friend Code, but that alone doesn’t open the third slot: your friend must have entered the Hall of Fame, and the game must have seen you both online together in the PSS. Since Nintendo Network for 3DS shut down in April 2024, that online check no longer happens. A third slot you already unlocked stays open, and a new one can still be unlocked by playing together over local wireless. There’s no Espeon in any safari, including the Psychic type.
Breed one
Leave an Eevee with a Ditto at the Route 7 Day Care. A hatched Eevee starts at 120 friendship instead of 70, and at level 1 it doesn’t know Baby-Doll Eyes yet. Skip that move at level 9 and Charm at level 29, and make sure it didn’t hatch with Charm as an Egg Move. What matters is whether it knows any Fairy move at the moment it levels up.
What Espeon needs when Eevee levels up
- Friendship 220 or more. Friendship is a hidden value from 0 to 255. You don’t need the maximum. A freshly caught Eevee starts at 70.
- Daytime on the 3DS clock: 4:00 AM to 7:59 PM. From 8:00 PM to 3:59 AM, the same Eevee becomes Umbreon.
- An actual level-up. A battle where Eevee gains a level, or a Rare Candy. No stone does it: a Sun Stone has no effect on Eevee.
Pokémon X and Y use your 3DS clock as it is. Pokémon Moon shifts it by 12 hours, so Moon’s day and night are the other way round. Don’t change the 3DS clock to force daytime either: X and Y notice and lock daily events such as berry growth for about a day. Just play before 8 PM.
Why your Eevee became something else
When Eevee levels up, some evolutions take priority over Espeon. Leafeon and Glaceon beat Sylveon, and Sylveon beats Espeon and Umbreon. Espeon and Umbreon never compete, because one needs day and the other night:
| Priority | Evolution | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Beats Espeon | Leafeon | Level up anywhere on Route 20 |
| Beats Espeon | Glaceon | Level up in the Ice Rock room of Frost Cavern |
| Beats Espeon | Sylveon | Level up with 2+ Pokémon-Amie hearts and a known Fairy-type move |
| Day only | Espeon | Level up with 220+ friendship from 4:00 AM to 7:59 PM |
| Night only | Umbreon | Level up with 220+ friendship from 8:00 PM to 3:59 AM |
It became Sylveon
Sylveon needs two things: at least two hearts of affection in Pokémon-Amie, and a Fairy-type move. Eevee learns Baby-Doll Eyes at level 9 and Charm at level 29, and a level 19 Eevee from Route 10 still knows Baby-Doll Eyes. A few minutes of petting and Poké Puffs is enough for two hearts. When both are true, Eevee becomes Sylveon at any time of day, even with 220 friendship.
Fix one side of it before the level-up:
- Have Eevee forget Baby-Doll Eyes (and Charm, if it learned it) at the Move Deleter in Dendemille Town. Don’t teach it another Fairy move.
- Or keep Eevee out of Pokémon-Amie, so its affection stays under two hearts.
Pokémon-Amie affection and friendship are separate values. Five Amie hearts don’t mean Eevee is ready for Espeon. A maxed-out Amie Eevee can still be far below 220 friendship, and if it knows a Fairy move it becomes Sylveon.
It became Umbreon
The level-up happened between 8:00 PM and 3:59 AM. Look at the time on the HOME Menu, not at the sky in the game. If that’s the evolution you wanted after all, see how to get Umbreon in Pokémon X.
It became Leafeon or Glaceon
- Route 20 (Winding Woods) has the Moss Rock. A level-up anywhere on the route gives Leafeon, not just next to the rock.
- Frost Cavern has the Ice Rock. A level-up in its room gives Glaceon.
Both beat Espeon even in daylight with 220 friendship. Do the final level-up anywhere else.
Nothing happened
- Friendship is still under 220. Check it at the Fan Club (below).
- It leveled up in the Day Care. Pokémon don’t evolve there. Take it out and give it one more level.
- It’s holding an Everstone. Take it off.
- You pressed B during the evolution. It will try again at the next level-up.
- It’s level 100. It can’t level up any more, so it can never evolve this way.
Raise friendship in Kalos
Friendship rises a little with almost everything you do with Eevee, and faster while it’s low. Set up these first:
- Soothe Bell. Held, it makes friendship gains 1.5 times larger. A woman in a house in Shalour City gives it to you if your lead Pokémon has at least 70 friendship. A new Eevee starts at exactly 70, so putting it first is enough.
- Luxury Ball. A Pokémon caught in one gets +1 on most friendship gains. $1,000 each at the Poké Ball Boutique in Lumiose City.
- Vitamins. HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc and Carbos, $9,800 each in Laverre City. +5 friendship each while it’s under 100, less after that.
- Level-ups. +5, +4 or +3 per level depending on current friendship. Gym Leader, Elite Four and Champion battles give a bonus.
- Massage in Cyllage City. Once a day: +5, +10 or +30.
- Super Training. The Soothing Bag gives +20.
- Befriending Power. This O-Power boosts friendship gains for a while. Mr. Bonding in the Coumarine City Pokémon Center gives it to you.
- Walking. Eevee gains a little now and then while it’s in your party.
The Soothe Bell and Luxury Ball don’t boost the massage, the Soothing Bag or Juice Shoppe drinks. Friendship drops when Eevee faints and when you use Energy Powder, Energy Root, Heal Powder or Revival Herb.
How to tell Eevee is ready
In the Pokémon Fan Club in Laverre City, talk to the woman (not the chairman). She comments on the first Pokémon in your party:
| She says | Friendship | Ready for Espeon? |
|---|---|---|
| “It’s amazingly friendly toward you!” | 255 | Yes |
| “You must really like your Eevee and always keep it by your side!” | 200–254 | Only if it’s 220 or more |
| “…you and your Eevee will be an even greater combo someday!” | 150–199 | No |
| “It’s a little bit friendly to you… Something like that.” | 100–149 | No |
| “…you have a lot of time ahead of you to get to know one another better.” | 50–99 | No |
| “Are you just letting it get knocked out in Pokémon battles?!” | 1–49 | No |
“Really like” starts at 200, and at that point a vitamin only adds +2 (+3 with the Soothe Bell) and a massage may add just +5 or +10. Two quick boosts can leave Eevee short of 220. Keep raising it, with battles, walking, Super Training and daily massages, until she says “amazingly friendly.” Then you know it’s ready.
Will this Eevee become Espeon?
Go down the list in order. The first “yes” is what you get.
| Question | If yes |
|---|---|
| Is it holding an Everstone, in the Day Care, or level 100? | No evolution |
| Are you on Route 20? | Leafeon |
| Are you in Frost Cavern’s Ice Rock room? | Glaceon |
| Two or more Amie hearts and a Fairy move? | Sylveon |
| Friendship under 220? | No evolution |
| 3DS clock 8:00 PM to 3:59 AM? | Umbreon |
| None of the above | Espeon |
Pokémon Y and other games
- Pokémon Y is identical. Same Route 10 rates, same 220 friendship, same daytime hours.
- Sun and Moon have the same friendship target, but Pokémon Refresh replaces Amie and Moon’s clock is 12 hours off.
- From Sword and Shield on, friendship evolutions start at 160, and Sylveon uses friendship instead of affection.
- In Pokémon GO, the buddy and nickname tricks do nothing in X and Y.
Espeon is a Psychic type with base stats of 65 HP, 65 Attack, 60 Defense, 130 Sp. Atk, 95 Sp. Def and 110 Speed. Its ability is Synchronize, or Magic Bounce as a Hidden Ability. It has no Mega Evolution. To find Route 10, Route 20 and Frost Cavern, open the interactive Kalos map, and register your Espeon in the Kalos Pokédex.
FAQ
Can you catch Espeon in Pokémon X?
No. There’s no wild Espeon in Kalos, not even in the Friend Safari. Evolve an Eevee from Route 10 or trade for one.
What time of day does Eevee become Espeon?
From 4:00 AM to 7:59 PM on the 3DS clock. From 8:00 PM it becomes Umbreon.
How much friendship does Espeon need?
220 out of 255. A new Eevee starts at 70.
Why did my Eevee turn into Sylveon?
It had two or more Amie hearts and knew a Fairy move, usually Baby-Doll Eyes. Sylveon is checked before Espeon. Delete the move at the Move Deleter in Dendemille Town first.
Does Pokémon-Amie help with Espeon?
No. Amie raises affection, which is separate from friendship, and only makes Sylveon more likely.
Where do I find Eevee in Pokémon X?
Route 10: 20% in the yellow flowers and 5% in the grass. You can also trade for Stevie from the hotel Maid, or find it in a Normal-type Friend Safari.
Is the method the same in Pokémon Y?
Yes. Eevee’s locations, the friendship target and the daytime hours are the same in both versions.