I feel I need to caveat what I’m about to say by explaining that I love Eevee. My first ever Elite Four team featured a Jolteon, and Sylveon has become my favourite Pokemon ever since it debuted in Gen 6. I have mini plushies of all the Eeveelutions, and Eevee itself. Even the case for my Nintendo Switch has Eevee on it, crouched in a battle pose having just launched a Swift attack. I don’t just like Eevee, or think it’s okay, or love one Eeveelution in particular. I love Eevee, both as a Pokemon and as a concept. But we don’t need another Eevee Community Day in Pokemon Go.
We first had an Eevee Community day back in August 2018, but that doesn’t tell the full story. The whole point of Community Days is to catch shinies; for most Pokemon, you just need to catch the one shiny and then evolve it. With Eevee, it’s not so simple. Back in 2018, it had five possible evolutions, two of which you could force (Espeon and Umbreon, by walking 10km then evolving at day or night, respectively), and three of which were down completely to chance. There was – and to this day, remains – no way to choose which of the Kanto Eeveelutions you get when evolving an Eevee in Pokemon Go. In the base game, you choose by using a specific Stone. Evolutionary items do exist in Go, but they’re used inconsistently, and in any case, the Stones needed for the Eeveelutions were not and still are not included.
Related: Pretty Weird That Pokemon Unite Has Nobody From Gen 2, Right?This means you’d need to catch five shinies – not unheard of on a Community Day – and get lucky with the Kanto three, as well as walking a combined 20km for the Johto two, to ‘complete’ the day. For this reason, Eevee’s Community Day became the first to be stretched out over two days. Since 2018, we’ve had Community Days take place on two different days across different time zones, or be rearranged due to the pandemic or unrelated technical hitches, but no other regular Community Day has taken place across the entire weekend like Eevee’s did. August 2021’s Community Day, when Eevee returns, will be the second. This time, with Leafeon, Glaceon, and Sylveon all in the mix too, there are even more shinies to catch, although players who have been playing since the beginning will have some shinies already allocated. I kept one back since August ‘18 for Sylveon, meaning I got to get my shiny Sylvie instantly without needing to complete the ridiculous Heart requirements.
I say ‘regular Community Day’ because the December Community Days are different. These are a chance to catch up on any Community Days earlier that year you have missed – that means Eevee was heavily involved in December 2018’s Day and was present in raids and eggs throughout the following year’s festive event. On top of that, Flower Crown Eevee has a summer event – alongside Flower Crown Pikachu – and that Flower Crown form has since returned for different events alongside other Flower Crown ‘mons, as well as appearing in the monthly Special Research.
Eevee is only the second Pokemon to have a Community Day repeat, the first one being Charmander. While this one was also a waste of a slot, it at least didn’t revolve around a Pokemon who had already been the centrepiece of so many other events in the game.
I understand why some people want Eevee to come back. I catch every Eevee I see – I told you, I love them – and I still only have four different shiny Eeveelutions. I do have three separate Jolteons, owing to the lack of choice for the Kanto three, and will likely need more than two new shines to get lucky with Vaporeon and Flareon. As well as keeping two back for Lefeaon and Glaceon, although those are both the worst Eeveeltions and have the worst shinies, turning from green and blue to a slightly different green and a slightly different blue, respectively. I’ll benefit from the Eevee Community Day, and as someone who loves Eevee and is still four off the full shiny collection, I’ll benefit more than most. But it still feels like an incredibly boring choice.
A little while ago, ahead of the Gible Community Day, I wrote that Community Days had lost all meaning. That, however, was a very different complaint. I wrote that in anticipation for the Gible day, confused as to why other players were in uproar about it. The community spirit of Community Day has dwindled, both as the casual players have dropped off and the player base has crystallized into a more hardcore, tactics based demographic, and because of the distanced play enforced by the pandemic. Complaints about the Gible Day revolved around its bonus moveset, which goes against what Community Day – an event that began with a Pikachu that learns Surf – is supposed to be about. Eevee’s moveset of Last Resort is also terrible, but that’s not why I think Community Day should go to someone else.
August’s Community Day going to Eevee wastes one of the central charms of Community Day. These days can introduce new shinies into the game, shinies that offer up new surprises – especially to players whose only Pokemon experience is Go. It also offers some excitement that lasts. I missed the Seedot Community Day, then caught a shiny Seedot a few weeks later. Shiny Eevee is already in the game, so once the day is over (days, technically), the excitement is gone. Eevee is a brilliant Pokemon, but it’s time for someone else to have the spotlight.
Next: Pokemon Go Needs To Stop Relying On Raids
