How to Get Umbreon in Pokémon X (Friendship + Night Level-Up)

You can’t catch Umbreon in Pokémon X or Y. You evolve Eevee into it. Catch an Eevee on Route 10 (20% in the yellow flowers, Lv. 19–20; 5% in ordinary grass). Raise its friendship to 220 or more, then level it up between 8:00 PM and 3:59 AM on your 3DS clock. Before that level-up, make sure it doesn’t meet the conditions for Sylveon (two or more Pokémon-Amie hearts and a Fairy-type move such as Baby-Doll Eyes, which Eevee learns at level 9), and don’t level it up on Route 20 or in the Ice Rock room of Frost Cavern. Pokémon Y works exactly the same way.

This guide is for Pokémon X and Pokémon Y on Nintendo 3DS and 2DS, up to the final version 1.5. The update notes don’t mention Eevee’s evolutions. Sun and Moon, Sword and Shield, and Pokémon GO use different clocks, thresholds or methods, so their numbers don’t apply here.

Umbreon in five steps

1. Get an Eevee. Walk through the yellow flowers on Route 10, between Cyllage City and Geosenge Town.
2. Raise its friendship to at least 220. Give it a Soothe Bell to hold, keep it in your party, and use vitamins, level-ups and the Cyllage City massage.
3. Check its friendship. Talk to the woman in the Pokémon Fan Club in Laverre City. Keep raising it after you first hear “You must really like your Eevee” (more on that below).
4. Clear the conditions that come first. Keep Pokémon-Amie affection below two hearts or delete Baby-Doll Eyes, and stay away from Route 20 and the Ice Rock room.
5. Level it up at night. Between 8:00 PM and 3:59 AM, win a battle with it or give it a Rare Candy.

You can’t catch Umbreon, so catch an Eevee

Umbreon never appears in the wild in Kalos, and there’s no gift or static Umbreon either. The Pokédex area screen for Umbreon stays empty. The only way to get one in X and Y is to evolve Eevee, or to trade with someone who already has one.

Where to find Eevee: Route 10

Route 10 (the Menhir Trail) is the road north from Cyllage City to Geosenge Town, lined with rows of standing stones. You reach it after the Cyllage City Gym. Eevee is in both of its wild encounter types, but it’s four times more common in the yellow flowers:

Eevee’s catch rate is 45, the same as most starters, so bring Great Balls or Ultra Balls. A Luxury Ball is the best choice if you have one (see below). Eevee is male 87.5% of the time. Its gender doesn’t matter for Umbreon.

What has to be true when Eevee levels up

Umbreon is a “friendship at night” evolution. When Eevee levels up, the game checks two things:

• Friendship is 220 or more. Friendship is a hidden value from 0 to 255. You don’t need the maximum; 220 is enough. A freshly caught Eevee starts at 70.
• The time is night: 8:00 PM to 3:59 AM. The game reads the 3DS system clock. From 4:00 AM to 7:59 PM, the same Eevee becomes Espeon instead.

The level-up itself can come from any battle where Eevee gains a level, or from a Rare Candy. No stone is involved: a Moon Stone does nothing to Eevee.

What time counts as night

For evolution, night starts at 8:00 PM and runs to 3:59 AM. This is a little earlier than the overworld sky, which only goes fully dark at 9:00 PM, so you don’t have to wait for it to look like night. The sky turns at 9:00 PM, but evolution already counts 8:00 PM as night. A level-up at 7:30 PM, even with an orange evening sky, gives you Espeon.

Don’t change the 3DS clock to force night. X and Y notice the change and lock time-based events, such as berry growth and daily NPCs, for about a day. Waiting until evening is safer, and it costs nothing.

Why your Eevee became something else

Eevee has eight evolutions in X and Y, and some of their conditions can be true at the same time. When that happens, the one higher in this list wins. Umbreon is at the bottom, so everything above it has to be false:

It became Espeon

The level-up happened between 4:00 AM and 7:59 PM. Check the time on the 3DS HOME Menu before you battle or use the Rare Candy. If you play in the evening, wait until 8:00 PM.

It became Sylveon

Sylveon is checked before Umbreon, and its condition is easy to meet by accident:

• Eevee learns Baby-Doll Eyes, a Fairy-type move, at level 9. A level 19 Eevee from Route 10 still knows it; at level 20 it learns Refresh, which pushes Baby-Doll Eyes out of the four default moves. Check Eevee’s moves on the summary screen either way.
• Petting and feeding Eevee in Pokémon-Amie quickly gives it two hearts of affection.

If Eevee knows a Fairy move and has two hearts, it becomes Sylveon even with 220 friendship at midnight. Fix one of them: either stay away from Pokémon-Amie (affection stays at zero hearts unless you play with it there), or go to the Move Deleter in Dendemille Town and have Eevee forget Baby-Doll Eyes. Don’t teach it any other Fairy move afterward. Eevee also learns Charm, another Fairy move, at level 29, so skip it if it comes up before the night level-up.

Pokémon-Amie affection and friendship are two different values. Amie hearts don’t raise the friendship Umbreon needs, so playing with Eevee there only helps Sylveon. Sun and Moon use the same Sylveon rule (two affection hearts and a Fairy move), but you raise affection in Pokémon Refresh instead of Pokémon-Amie (see how Sylveon works in Sun and Moon).

It became Leafeon or Glaceon

Two places in Kalos override everything else:

• Route 20 (Winding Woods). The Moss Rock is here, and a level-up anywhere on Route 20 gives Leafeon, not just next to the rock. Pokémon Village, at the end of the route, doesn’t count.
• Frost Cavern. Only the inner room with the Ice Rock gives Glaceon. The other floors are safe, but it’s easier to just not level Eevee there.

Nothing happened

• Friendship is still under 220. See the friendship check below.
• It leveled up in the Day Care. Pokémon never evolve in the Day Care. Take Eevee out, then give it one more level at night.
• It’s holding an Everstone. Take it off.
• You pressed B. Pressing B during the evolution animation cancels it. Eevee will try again at its next level-up.

How to raise friendship fast

Friendship goes up a little with almost everything you do with Eevee, and faster while it’s low. Gains shrink as it climbs: a vitamin gives +5 below 100, +3 from 100 to 199 and +2 from 200 up. These are the boosts worth setting up first:

Soothe Bell, Luxury Ball and the rest

• Soothe Bell. Hold it and most friendship gains are 1.5 times larger. A woman in a house in Shalour City gives it to you if the first Pokémon in your party has at least 70 friendship. A newly caught Eevee starts at exactly 70, so putting it first is enough.
• Luxury Ball. A Pokémon caught in one gets +1 on most friendship gains. Buy them at the Poké Ball Boutique in Lumiose City for $1,000 each. It doesn’t start Eevee at a higher value.
• Vitamins. HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc and Carbos cost $9,800 each at the vitamin shop in Laverre City. Each one also gives friendship, best while it’s under 100.
• Level-ups in battle. +5, +4 or +3 per level depending on the current friendship. A Rare Candy also raises friendship, a little less (+5, +3 or +2). Battles against Gym Leaders, the Elite Four and the Champion give a bonus to the whole party.
• Massage in Cyllage City. Once a day, a groomer massages one Pokémon for +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. Keeping Eevee in the party while you walk adds a little friendship now and then.

These two boosts don’t apply to massages, the Soothing Bag or Juice Shoppe drinks. Avoid anything that lowers friendship: letting Eevee faint, and the bitter medicine from the Herboriste (Energy Powder, Energy Root, Heal Powder and Revival Herb).

A good order: catch Eevee in a Luxury Ball, get the Soothe Bell in Shalour City, then give it vitamins in Laverre City and check it at the Fan Club next door. How close it is to 220 depends on how much you’ve walked and battled, so expect a few more vitamins or level-ups after the first check.

Check friendship at the Laverre Fan Club

Go into the Pokémon Fan Club in Laverre City and talk to the woman (not the chairman, who hands out Effort Ribbons). She comments on the first Pokémon in your party:

When you first hear “You must really like your Eevee,” friendship could be anywhere from 200 to 254, so it might still be under 220. Give Eevee a few more vitamins or another massage before you try. If you want certainty, keep going until she says “amazingly friendly.”

Other ways to get an Eevee

Breed one at the Day Care

Leave an Eevee with a Ditto at the Route 7 Day Care, or pair a female Eevee with a male Pokémon from a compatible Egg Group (the baby is the mother’s species, so a male Eevee needs a Ditto). An Eevee that hatches from an Egg starts at 120 friendship instead of 70, a big head start. If the mother is a female Eevee caught in a Luxury Ball, the baby inherits the ball and its bonus too. A hatched Eevee usually doesn’t know Baby-Doll Eyes, though it can inherit the move if both parents know it. Check its moves, and skip the move when it tries to learn it at level 9.

The Maid’s Eevee trade in the hotels

A Maid named Elena 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 offers a female Eevee nicknamed Stevie for any Pokémon. Stevie is level 5 and holds a Rare Candy. Its friendship starts low, as with any trade, so treat it like a new catch. Save the Rare Candy for the final level-up at night.

Friend Safari

After you enter the Hall of Fame, the Friend Safari in Kiloude City opens. A Normal-type safari can have Eevee as its third Pokémon, at level 30. The third slot only opens once your friend has entered the Hall of Fame and your game has seen them online at the same time through the PSS; once is enough. Online play for X and Y ended with the 3DS Nintendo Network shutdown in April 2024, so a registered friend code alone won’t do it, but the PSS check now works over local wireless. Safaris whose third slot is already unlocked keep it.

Pokémon Y, other games and Pokémon GO

• Pokémon Y is identical. Same Route 10 rates, same friendship target, same clock.
• In Sun and Moon the friendship target is the same, but Pokémon Moon’s clock is 12 hours off, Pokémon Refresh replaces Pokémon-Amie, and Umbreon can appear in SOS battles.
• From Sword and Shield on, friendship evolutions start at 160, and Sylveon uses friendship instead of Amie hearts.
• In Pokémon GO, the walking-buddy and nickname tricks belong to GO and do nothing in X and Y.

Ready-to-evolve checklist

• The Laverre Fan Club woman says “amazingly friendly,” or you’ve kept raising friendship well past “really like.”
• The 3DS clock reads between 8:00 PM and 3:59 AM.
• Eevee has fewer than two Amie hearts, or doesn’t know Baby-Doll Eyes or any other Fairy move.
• You’re not on Route 20 or in Frost Cavern.
• Eevee isn’t holding an Everstone, and it’s not in the Day Care.
• You have a Rare Candy or an easy wild battle ready, and you won’t press B.

Umbreon is Dark type, with high defenses: base stats 95 HP, 65 Attack, 110 Defense, 60 Sp. Atk, 130 Sp. Def and 65 Speed. To see where Route 10, Route 20 and Frost Cavern sit in Kalos, open the interactive Kalos map. Register your new Umbreon in the Kalos Pokédex.

FAQ

Can you catch Umbreon in Pokémon X?

No. There’s no wild Umbreon in Kalos. Evolve an Eevee from Route 10, or trade for one.

How do you evolve Eevee into Umbreon in X and Y?

Raise its friendship to 220 or more, then level it up between 8:00 PM and 3:59 AM on the 3DS clock, away from Route 20 and Frost Cavern, and without the Sylveon conditions.

What time does Eevee evolve into Umbreon?

From 8:00 PM to 3:59 AM. With 220+ friendship and no Sylveon or rock conditions, a level-up from 4:00 AM to 7:59 PM gives Espeon instead.

How do I know Eevee’s friendship is high enough?

Ask the woman in the Laverre City Pokémon Fan Club. “Amazingly friendly” is a sure yes. “You must really like your Eevee” covers 200 to 254, so raise it a bit more to be safe.

Why did my Eevee become Sylveon instead of Umbreon?

It had two or more Pokémon-Amie hearts and knew a Fairy move (usually Baby-Doll Eyes). Sylveon takes priority over Umbreon. Delete the move at the Move Deleter in Dendemille Town, or avoid Pokémon-Amie.

Does Pokémon-Amie help with Umbreon?

No. Amie raises affection, which is separate from friendship. It only makes Sylveon more likely.

Is it the same in Pokémon Y?

Yes. Eevee’s locations, the 220 friendship target and the night hours are the same in both versions.