| Espeon and Umbreon | |
|---|---|
| Series | Pokémon series |
| First game | Pokémon Gold and Silver |
| Designed by | Ken Sugimori |
| Voiced by (English) | Espeon: Yumi Tōma Kayzie Rogers (side-story ep. 5) Umbreon: Kayzie Rogers (Gary's) |
| Voiced by (Japanese) | Ēfi: Yumi Tōma Burakkī: Mika Kanai (ep. 171), Satomi Kōrogi |
Espeon and Umbreon, known in Japan as Ēfi (エーフィ) and Burakkī (ブラッキー), are two Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, they first appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise.
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Espeon is an evolved, lavender-colored, cat-like form of Eevee that became available with the Japanese release of Pokémon Gold and Silver. It is a psychic type Pokémon. The appearance of Espeon is said to resemble the Japanese mythological creature known as Nekomata which also displays the feline body with forked tail tip and solid colored eyes. An Espeon's fur is so sensitive it is used to sense air currents, allowing it to predict the weather, as well as the actions of its opponent in battle. Its forked tail quivers when this occurs. A red jewel rests on its head and glows whenever Espeon uses its psychic abilities. Espeon are described as being very loyal to their trainers once they consider them worthy. They are also said to develop precognitive abilities in order to protect their trainers, Espeon become enabled to see into the future to identify potential threats. Eevee evolves into Espeon by having a high happiness level and leveling up during the day. A Sun Shard item can also be used in Pokémon XD, a Sun Ribbon in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue and Red, Explorers of Time, and Explorers of Darkness. According to IGN, Espeon's English name is derived from "ESP" and the suffix "-eon", as with every evolution of Eevee.[1]
Umbreon, known as the Moonlight Pokémon, evolves from Eevee when it has gained a complete trust of its trainer at night. Just like Espeon, Umbreon is also based on Japanese mythology, the moon rabbit. It has the generic feline like body common for all the other evolutions of Eevee, with a pair of crimson cat eyes and yellow bands on its ears and tail. Umbreon's forehead and legs have yellow rings on them, that resemble the symbol of eclipse, they are said to glow at night.[2] Umbreon can spray a poisonous sweat whenever it gets agitated.[3] Despite its appearance, Umbreon is a Pokémon of strong endurance. Umbreon tend to be found in dark areas such as thick forests, but are most commonly found under the care of people. Umbreons English name comes from UMBRA, the darkest part of an eclipse, followed by eon, as of all other eeveelutions. According to IGN, the origin for Umbreon's name comes from the Latin word for shadow, "umbral".[1]
Espeon and Umbreon first appear in Pokémon Gold and Silver and later in their remake Pokémon Crystal. They were available only through evolving from Eevee depending on its level of happiness; if it evolves during the day, it becomes Espeon, and if at night, it becomes Umbreon. It has since appeared in all main Pokémon titles. Outside of the main series, they appear in Pokémon Trozei!, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon titles, the Pokémon Ranger titles, Pokémon Colosseum, and PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure. Outside of the main series, Espeon and Umbreon sometimes evolve using certain items. By itself, Espeon appears in Pokémon Channel. In Pokémon Colosseum, Espeon and Umbreon are the two starter Pokémon.
Espeon appears in the anime film, Pokémon Heroes, as a Pokémon owned by the film's villains.
In the anime, Ash Ketchum's rival Gary Oak owns an Umbreon, which evolved sometime prior to the episode Power Play where it was shown to be battling an Alakazam, and had proved itself to be a strong battler. Umbreon was also seen with Gary during Putting the Air Back in Aerodactyl. It appeared again along with its Trainer in Ill-Will Hunting! where it helped Ash, Brock and Dawn protect the herd of Shieldon from Pokémon Hunter J and her henchmen. Gary used Umbreon to battle Ash's Gligar in a practice match in Fighting Fear With Fear!. In Volume 14 of the Pokémon Adventures manga, Karen is seen with an Umbreon. Karen also has an Umbreon in the game Pokémon Silver.
IGN's Pokémon Chick wrote that Espeon was "beautiful" due to its "pair of haunting obsidian eyes" and while she preferred the original Eevee evolutions Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon, Espeon has brought its "fare share of originality to the Pokemon pool". She did however describe Espeon as "basically just an Alakazam with horrendous move compatibility" in terms of its stats.[4] She also wrote that the Pokémon Wynaut was good for being "less brittle" than Espeon.[5] GameZone described Espeon and Umbreon as "powerful" and "cat-like" in Pokémon Colosseum.[6] Author Joanne O'Sullivan listed Espeon as a good video game-based name for a cat.[7] In response to a series of Eevee line plushies, GamesRadar's Raymond Padilla wrote "sadly, and rather inexplicably, Espeon gets shafted here".[8]
1UP.com's Michael Vreeland called Umbreon a "popular favorite".[9] Pokémon Chick wrote that Umbreon was the only Eevee evolution that was not lacking in defense.[10] She also wrote that Jolteon was given "steep competition" with its introduction.[11] She added that she missed Umbreon in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.[12] She described it as "beautiful" and a "ringed ebony tank".[13] She also called it an "annoyer", a type of Pokémon who lacks "attacking moves".[14] She compared it to other Dark-type Pokémon, such as Poochyena, Houndoom, and Absol.[15] Early fan translations of Gold and Silver translated Umbreon's type to be "evil", which IGN's Pokémon of the Day Guy countered through the description of the Latin word "eon" which is a part of its name to mean "emanations sent forth by God from the depths of His grand solitude to fulfill various functions in the material and spiritual universe".[1] Authors of The official pokémon handbook wrote that Umbreon was a "very useful Pokémon with great defensive skills".[16]