Eevee is in the highest echelon of Pokémon‘s eponymous creatures, alongside the likes of Pikachu and Charizard, easily recognizable franchise icons. Coming to be viewed as Pokémon‘s second mascot, Eevee has the largest evolution line by quite a large margin, though its nine total forms do not account for every Pokémon type. With every new game introducing brand-new Pokémon and regional forms of existing ones, there is constant hope that a new Eeveelution will be introduced, but a scrapped Flying-type design may elucidate Eevee’s broader stagnation in recent generations.
Pokémon Winds and Waves are on the horizon, coming sometime in 2027, and there is already speculation that they will introduce new Eeveelutions. With 18 total types in Pokémon (19 if you want to count Scarlet and Violet‘s Stellar), the number of Eevee forms could conceivably double, yet Game Freak hasn’t introduced a new Eeveelution since 2013’s Pokémon X and Y—the Fairy-type Sylveon.
Why Haven’t We Had A New Eeveelution Since 2013?
Game Freak
A lack of new Eevee evolutions for more than a decade hasn’t exactly been addressed in an official capacity by Game Freak, The Pokémon Company, or Nintendo—at least not that I could find. It’s par for the course, really; Nintendo and co. are notoriously tight-lipped about in-development projects, and Pokémon, the most financially successful intellectual property of all-time, is a golden goose that’s terminally in-development.
The most enlightening information we have is a bit of documentation from the so-called Teraleak in late 2024. According to prominent Pokémon leaker Centro Leaks, a Flying-type Eeveelution was designed for Generation 7’s Pokémon Sun and Moon, but Game Freak decided to “put it on hold” because “the design was similar to a design created by a fan“.
Gen 7’s Flying-type Eevee evolution was reportedly deemed too expensive of an endeavor. If the Pokémon’s design was truly very similar to a fan’s concept, then it would seem Game Freak, TPC, or Nintendo felt compensation to the unaffiliated artist would have been necessary, an unjustifiable cost unless “there is a game where Flying Eevee is the main character“, or there is otherwise “high value” in such a project.
The only silver lining is that Game Freak is notorious for hanging onto Pokémon concepts. It’s still a possibility that some version of the shelved Flying-type Eeveelution makes it into a future game, whether it’s Winds and Waves or later installments. An ongoing issue is Eevee’s popularity. New fan-made Pokémon designs pop up all the time, and the idea of new Eeveelutions is so attractive that plenty of talented artists have shared their rendition of every unused type. Pokémon‘s financial problems with a new Eeveelution remain, and theoretically will only grow more expensive.
A Flying-Type Eeveelution Would Be Incredible
Eevee’s popularity has become an ironic conundrum for Pokémon. Any new Eeveelution would be exceptionally popular—barring a totally disastrous design—and immediately drum up a lot of excitement for whichever game it debuts in. It’s a bit funny to think of it as a financial issue;Pokémon is about as close as you can get to a money printer. Paying an artist would certainly be worth it to add another member to the Eevee pantheon after so much demand, wouldn’t it?
A Flying-type Eevee, especially, seems like a smart new Eeveelution. Flying is one of the original types, and such an evolution for Eevee is relatively easy to envision, at least more so than a Fighting- or Bug-type Eeveelution. In all likelihood, Game Freak has probably prototyped an Eeveelution of every unused type, but they all may be running into the same issue. Pokémon‘s best opportunity to introduce a new Eevee form may repeat the circumstances surrounding Sylveon being introduced alongside a brand-new type.
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