Major appearances
Sakura's Eevee was revealed to have evolved into Espeon at some point between Trouble's Brewing and Espeon, Not Included.
Other
An Espeon appeared in Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias, under the ownership of Annie. It was her main Pokémon and would use its Psychic to incapacitate foes.
An Espeon appeared in The Saffron Con, under the ownership of Lilian Meridian, the announcer of the Kanto Contests. It was mostly used to test the stage's lighting effects, but it also performed an appeal during the Saffron City Contest, which entranced May's Squirtle.
An Espeon appeared in Second Time's the Charm, under the ownership of Anabel. It was the third and final Pokémon used during her rematch against Ash in the Battle Tower. The Sun Pokémon was eventually defeated by Pikachu's Volt Tackle.
A male Espeon debuted in Team Eevee and the Pokémon Rescue Squad!, along with an Eevee and her other evolved forms at the time, under the ownership of Virgil. He reappeared in Lost at the League! and A Unova League Evolution!, and in a flashback in Curtain Up, Unova League!.
An Espeon appeared in Eevee & Friends with an Eevee and its other evolved forms, including the newly introduced Sylveon. It has a vain personality and dislikes getting its appearance ruined in any way.
An Espeon appeared in Master Class Choices!, under the ownership of a Performer named Amelia. Espeon was used alongside Dragonair and made it past the Theme Performance. However, it came in second during the Freestyle Performance, losing to Serena and her Braixen, Pancham, and Sylveon.
A Trainer's Espeon appeared in Turning Heads and Training Hard!, where it was summoned to help Ilima's Eevee perform Extreme Evoboost. It reappeared in the Poké Problem segment of the next episode, where it saw Ilima and Eevee off.
Minor appearances
An Espeon appeared in Gary's demonstration in Johto Photo Finish, where it evolved from an Eevee.
An Espeon appeared in Brock's demonstration in A Bite to Remember, where it evolved from an Eevee.
A Coordinator's Espeon appeared in Pros and Con Artists.
An Espeon appeared in Destiny Deoxys, under the ownership of a Lady.
A Coordinator's Espeon appeared in Mean With Envy.
A Coordinator's Espeon appeared in Hi Ho Silver Wind! and Deceit and Assist. It was competing in the Hoenn Grand Festival.
A Coordinator's Espeon appeared in The Saffron Con.
An Espeon appeared briefly in May, We Harley Drew'd Ya!, under the ownership of a Coordinator competing in the Kanto Grand Festival.
An Espeon appeared in Not on MY Watch Ya Don't!, where it was one of the Pokémon who were hypnotized by Psyduck.
An Espeon made a small cameo appearance in the opening sequence of Giratina and the Sky Warrior together with an Eevee and the other six Eeveelutions at the time.
An Espeon appeared in a fantasy in Tag Team Battle Inspiration!, where Serena imagined what her Eevee could evolve into.
A Trainer's Espeon appeared in Racing to a Big Event!, where it participated in the Pokémon Pancake Race.
Two Trainers' Espeon appeared in The Power of Us.
A Trainer's Espeon appeared in Turning the Other Mask!.
A Trainer's Espeon appeared in Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Strategy!.
A Trainer's Espeon appeared in Battling on the Wing!, where it was watching the battles during the Manalo Conference.
A Trainer's Espeon appeared in Exhibition Unmasked!, Fiery Surprises!, and From Z to Shining Z!.
Pokédex entries
Episode
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Pokémon
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Source
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Entry
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EP226
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Espeon
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Ash's Pokédex
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Espeon, the Sun Pokémon. Espeon are able to read air currents, allowing it to predict the future, as well as its opponents' next moves.
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Episode
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Pokémon
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Source
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Entry
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AG170
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Espeon
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May's Pokédex
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Espeon, the Sun Pokémon. It uses the fine hairs that cover its body to sense air currents and predict an opponent's movement.
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Episode
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Pokémon
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Source
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Entry
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BW102
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Espeon
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Ash's Pokédex
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Espeon, the Sun Pokémon. It predicts opponent's moves and detects air currents with its body hairs.
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- Eevee cannot evolve into Espeon or Umbreon in FireRed and LeafGreen due to the lack of a time system. In order to be obtained and added to the Pokédex in these versions, an Eevee must be traded to Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald Versions, evolved there, and then traded back, or else traded from Pokémon Colosseum or Pokémon XD.
- Espeon shares its category name with Sunflora and Volcarona. They are all known as the Sun Pokémon.
- Espeon was designed by Atsuko Nishida.[1]
- Espeon has blue inner ears in the games, but in other forms of media, such as the anime, they are often purple.
- Espeon is tied with Glaceon for the highest base Special Attack stat of all Eeveelutions.
- Espeon is also tied with Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon for the lowest base Defense stat of all Eeveelutions; and tied with Jolteon, Flareon, Leafeon, and Glaceon for the lowest base HP stat of all Eeveelutions.
Origin
Because of its feline appearance, Espeon appears to be based on the legend of the bakeneko and the nekomata, both yōkai depicted as mysterious, intelligent, fork-tailed goblin cats. The orb on its forehead also shares similar traits to that of the carbuncle, a Latin-American mythological beast that had a jewel on its forehead. The red coloring of the jewel could be a reference to a lunar eclipse, an event in which the moon passes directly behind Earth and into its shadow, making it appear red in color.
Its large ears can be traced to caracals, oriental shorthairs, lynxes, and possibly servals. Espeon's ability to sense minute shifts in the air with its sensitive fur mirrors the cat's ability of using its sensitive whiskers to detect the slightest directional change in a breeze.
Name origin
Espeon is a combination of ESP (a branch of psychic abilities) and eon (an immeasurably long period of time, possibly referring to how long evolution takes naturally). Eon is a suffix all Eevee evolutions share and was Eevee's English prototype name.
Eifie is a combination of エスパー esupaa (ESPer, a person with psychic powers) and フィール fiiru (feel), referring to its extraordinary sensory abilities. It is very similar to Eevee, in both writing and sound (イーブイ/エーフィ).