Pokemon Go Sylveon - how to get the new Eeveelution and use the nickname trick

How to get Sylveon in Pokemon Go
(Image credit: Niantic)

Pokemon Go Sylveon is finally in the game after years of waiting, but how do you get it? As is the case with all the Eeveelutions in Pokemon Go, Sylveon has a unique evolution method along with a one-time use nickname trick, and we've got all the details here. If you're missing any of Sylveon's fellow evolutions however, make sure you check out our dedicated Pokemon Go Eevee evolutions guide. So without further ado, here is everything you need to know about how to get Sylveon in Pokemon Go.

Name trick

Pokemon Go Sylveon nickname trick

How to get Sylveon in Pokemon Go

(Image credit: Niantic)

First up is the nickname trick you can use to get either your very first Sylveon to tick it off the Pokedex, or save until you have a shiny/100% Eevee you want to dedicate to be the best Sylveon possible.

If you're unsure how this works, all you have to do is change the nickname of the Eevee you want to evolve to Kira. The question mark in the evolve button should change to a silhouette of Sylveon – if you do not see that silhouette, do not press evolve and instead restart your app then try again. This is a one-time use trick so once you've used the name Kira once, you'll have to follow the method below for any more Sylveons you want to add to your collection.

Buddy Evolution

How to get Sylveon in Pokemon Go

How to get Sylveon in Pokemon Go

(Image credit: Niantic)

Now for the "normal" method of evolving Sylveon in Pokemon Go. While other Eeveelutions require walking a certain distance and evolving at a specific time of the day, or using a themed lure module, Sylveon is all about friendship. Sylveon also arguably has the hardest method of evolution, because you need to set it as your buddy and earn 75 hearts with it.

This can be done by taking photos of Sylveon, playing with it, feeding it, spinning new Pokestops, all the usual rigmarole to earn hearts with a buddy. If you make your buddy excited you can earn a maximum of 20 hearts per day, so you can evolve an Eevee into Sylveon in four days. If you don't get Eevee excited, it'll take eight days, with 10 hearts per day.

In order to make a buddy excited each day, you need to keep doing activities with it. Everything on the list of activities in-game counts, along with opening gifts/souvenirs from your buddy, and when you've done enough, your buddy will be excited and you'll earn double the amount of hearts for that day. To be more specific, you need a total of 32 points, and completing the full list will earn 14 points. So do each one three times and voila! One excited buddy.

That's all there is to it! Sylveon is the final Eevee-lution in the world of Pokemon, so don't expect any more additions to come to Pokemon Go. 

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Ford James

Give me a game and I will write every "how to" I possibly can or die trying. When I'm not knee-deep in a game to write guides on, you'll find me hurtling round the track in F1, flinging balls on my phone in Pokemon Go, pretending to know what I'm doing in Football Manager, or clicking on heads in Valorant.

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