Generation VI Eeveelution
Generation VI was unique when it came to Eeveelutions, only introducing one new member to the line, the new Fairy-type Sylveon, who also happened to be the only traditional Cross-Generation Evolution introduced---depending on who you ask, this is a good thing, or a bad thing. Me? I like Cross-Generation Evolutions, yet at the same time my favorite Generations are the odd ones which are allowed to have their own unique Pokemon and aren't too dependent on previous Generations, and tend to have a far higher number of original Pokemon---of course, Generation VI ultimately did not deliver on this due to the Mega Evolutions serving the same purpose as Cross-Generation Evolutions, and not being as cool which I think most folks will agree with me on that point, so, yeah, Sylveon being the only one introduced in such a small Region was ultimately a major let-down. But that's not exactly Sylveon's fault, so I won't hold her responsible for it. And to be honest, if we get a steady release of New Pokemon each Generation, around 70~ new faces plus a few Mega Evolutions honestly that isn't too bad the more I think about it. The major problems though are balancing the Types, which Game Freak really fucked up with (one Bug-line, two Ground-type Pokemon) and making sure the few Pokemon are put to good use and aren't just the same-old-same-old, which I think Game Freak did alright with such as mixing up the Regional Bird and Regional Rodent. So, I was disappointed at first, but I've warmed up to how they did Generation VI somewhat.
Sylveon was one of the first Pokemon revealed for XY, after the Starters and the Legendaries, and thus played a major part in the Generation VI Hype Cycle. Everyone figured Eevee would likely be getting a new Eeveelution, due to a sudden increase in focus on Eevee in various merchandise, such as the character of Virgil appearing in the show in a major role who owned all the currently known Eeveelutions except for one non-evolved Eevee, as well as the Pikachu Short airing alongside the Genesect Movie known as "Pikachu and Eevee Friends", and the logo for the short having each katakana character representing a certain Eeveelution except for a strange, butterfly-looking symbol. And then Sylveon was revealed, and everyone went silent---what Type was it supposed to represent? I'm not big into the Eeveelutions, but I'm not gonna lie, the uncertain months where we had no clue what exactly Sylveon was filled me with so much excitement I could barely contain myself. And oh, did it become such a controversy among fans! The main two groups at first were the Flying supporters, pointing to the streamers and winged-imagery associated with Sylveon as their primary point of evidence, and the Bug supporters, pointing out that Sylveon's original name, Nymphia, could stem from insect nymphs and also pointing out the butterfly bow-tie that was key to its image as well as its bug-like eyes. I was "Team Flying", feeling that as the first Physical Eeveelution, they'd get a bit more creative than simply slapping wings on it.
Of course, around this time, there was also rumors of a new Type being introduced, which was further pushed due to the webmaster of Pokexperto, Hiro, who leaked Generation V claiming that there was a new Type known as "Fairy", and Sylveon was our Fairy-type Eeveelution. Like all "leaks", this of course lead to comparisons with America's greatest political scandal, Benghazi, and from then on out all discussion involving Sylveon became known as "Fairyghazi". Nah, who am I kidding, they called it "Fairygate" because everyone in the English speaking world is obsessed with adding "-gate" to any minor controversy nowadays. Anyway, I was hesitant to believe Hiro, but liked the idea of a "Fairy-type", especially being set aside for the various odder Normal Pokemon who never really fit the "normal" categorization, and while I remained Team Flying, I was willing to consider the idea. In some circles, though, mentioning the Fairy-type would result in you getting absolutely shut-down by fans who seemed to almost go crazy at the possibility of such a Type being real. There was almost sort of a weird sexism behind it, I imagine mainly male Pokemon fans were bothered deeply by a Type normally associated with "girly things" existing, while others argued that "fairy" had a wide range of meanings, and thus not all Fairy-type Pokemon would be cute and bright pink. Well, as we all know now, Hiro was right, Sylveon was a Fairy Pokemon, and the detractors were also somewhat right, as the majority of Fairy-type Pokemon were pretty limited in their designs and followed the more modern, "sanitized" view of fairies. But it's only been one Generation, and I imagine Game Freak will branch out with them a bit more in the future.
But anyway, let's talk about Sylveon!
#700 - Sylveon
Fairy
Sylveon evolves from Eevee by getting two hearts in "Affection" from Pokemon-Amie, as well as knowing a Fairy-type move and leveling up, which is rather easy to do as Pokemon-Amie is placed front-and-center, and Eevee, who is found relatively early in XY at Level 21, learns Charm at Level 29. So, basically XY pretty much wants you to get a Sylveon if you plan on using Eevee by making it very convenient to the player, although it begs the question what will the evolution method be in future games if Pokemon-Amie does not return? At the very least, Game Freak didn't mess up in ORAS making Sylveon unavailable like the other post-Gen I Eeveelutions in the previous remakes, which is good. Furthermore, if you think about it, how are "Affection" and "Happiness" different methods considering they're synonyms? I still think Game Freak should've just made Pokemon-Amie directly affect Happiness instead of new stats, and added some new elements to Happiness like what Pokemon-Amie did like boosted EXP and occasionally avoiding moves during the single-player campaign, but that's a topic for another time. Anyway, with Eevee now learning a Fairy-type move naturally in Baby-Doll Eyes, the first time he's learned a specific Type of move upon its introduction rather than being re-Typed later, like Sand Attack, Bite, and Charm, I sometimes feel like Sylveon is meant to be perhaps the natural Eeveelution somewhat, or slightly more important than the others, at least for XY. Maybe in Generation VI it'll be different, and she'll be harder to obtain than Espeon and Umbreon who previously filled that role.
Like many Fairy-type Pokemon, Sylveon focuses on the Special stats and is actually very powerful---I recently battled the Gym Leader's Sylveon in XY during a Nuzlocke, and she literally kept me on my toes the entire fight as I had to basically just spam potions till she exhausted the PP of Dazzling Gleam because she knocked all my Pokemon down to like 5 HP with one attack. I'm pretty sure she's currently the toughest Eeveelution there is in the competitive circuit, although much of that is probably due to many folks still being unsure of how to handle Fairy-type Pokemon (I can never remember their Type Matchups!), and I imagine in future games where Game Freak perhaps balances them out a bit and they become more comfortable among the general populace, she might she a decline in use, but for now Sylveon literally bullies me every time I face her and makes me cry. I'm kind of glad Sylveon has a bit more presence than Leafeon and Glaceon though in her debut game, whereas for those two sometimes it felt like Game Freak forgot about them. I don't recall any major character using them in any Generation IV game, for instance, and they were easily the toughest Eeveelutions to get in Generation IV. So it's nice Sylveon was given a bit more push and not left to fend for itself.
I think everyone likes the Eeveelutions in general. I'm not a fan of them because I think they're overall pretty boring, but in no way do I think they're anywhere near bad designs, in fact maybe being "bad designs" might've made them more appealing to me, and most people seem to give them a pass overall for being related to a classic Pokemon like Eevee. Except Sylveon, the most controversial Eeveelution ever. This is the first Eeveelution I've seen straight up hate for, and its reception is very mixed---and I wouldn't be surprised if your opinion on Sylveon has a lot to do with how you feel about Generation VI's new additions (Fairy and Megas) in general rather than on its design alone. I still don't know how I feel about the design, as I do like how they made it a bit more elaborate and interesting than the last couple Eeveelution, hearkening back to Vaporeon who had a pretty creative and advanced design over Eevee, but I kind of really don't like it on its own when I'm not comparing it to Leafeon and Glaceon, and out of all the Generation VI Pokemon it's one I have no interest in ever using. A lot of people seem to be particularly bothered by the weird eyes (I've never really cared for the Eeveelutions as I'm not a fan of their rather "plain" eyes) and the streamers, but I don't think they're immediately objectionable.
Sylveon's new and has only been in two sets of games, so there hasn't been a lot of time for Game Freak to develop its lore. I remember Ruby and Sapphire had these really nice, multi-sentence PokeDex entries that did a good job at fleshing out the new Pokemon, but for some reason the following games have skimped back down to being a small sentence which really bugs me. Personally, I'd love if the PokeDex entries expanded and got really elaborate and more interesting, listing stuff once more like habitat, diet, etc. and a more lengthy summary of the species, but I guess with 700+ Pokemon that might not be viable. But hey, Game Freak, I'm doing just that right here for free! Anyway, Sylveon's "charm point" are its ribbon feelers, which it uses to calm fights, as well as wrapping them around its Trainers arm and walking with them like their girlfriend or something. I don't really know what Eevee "adapted" to here, with the other Eeveelutions it was pretty cut-and-dry, but I guess perhaps Eevee literally bonded with its Trainer to the point it became an extension of them both figuratively and sometimes literally? None of Sylveon's moves seem to be notably its "Signature Move", but most of the Fairy-type moves it learns are currently distributed to a small amount of Pokemon, so take your pick...Misty Terrain seems to fit the bill the best, though, as its ability to keep all the Pokemon on the field safe from negative status effects could be seen as representing how Sylveon calms fights. Also its Hidden Ability, Pixilate, is a pretty fitting "Signature Ability" that only two other Pokemon have, and it's the only non-Mega with it as well.
Sylveon's already had a pretty impressive anime showing, debuting in the Mini-Movie "Pikachu and Eevee Friends", as well as getting a filler dedicated to it early on in XY and being used in a Gym Battle by Valerie, although unlike in the games, it wasn't her final Pokemon that Ash faced off against. And Serena's Eevee which she just obtained will probably evolve into Sylveon---in fact, I recently saw merchandise that showed Serena and Sylveon side by side, so it seems like it's a given now. This will be the first Eeveelution ever on the main cast, as May's Eevee did not evolve till after she left as a main cast member. I really don't want an Eeveelution on the main cast when there's so many other Pokemon I'd rather see every episode, but there's nothing I can do about it I guess.
