Why the Eevee Nickname Trick Isn‘t Working in 2024

As a long-time Pokemon GO fan, one of my favorite parts has always been the myriad ways to evolve Eevee into its many Eeveelutions. But many players this year found one special evolution method – the nickname trick – has mysteriously stopped working properly.

As a guide writer, I wanted to get to the bottom of why this useful trick is on the fritz. Let‘s dig into the possible reasons and whether Niantic might ever restore its powers!

The Sudden Failing of a Popular Shortcut

First introduced in 2016, the Eevee nickname Easter egg let us quickly and easily evolve our Eevees into fan favorites like Flareon, Jolteon, Espeon and more simply by renaming them before hitting the evolve button.

But try it in 2024, and you‘ll likely find the process now entirely random – your clever name yielding a totally random Eeveelution. The trick worked for me once back in 2018 for my beloved Umbreon "Moonlight". But now? Rack up the Eevee candy as I might, Moonlight II eludes me!

According to multiple Reddit threads and friends‘ anecdotal complaints, our predicament is widely shared. So what gives, Niantic?

Accidental Triggers Overriding Nicknames

Niantic has remained tight-lipped around if the failing nickname trick is a purposeful change or mere glitch. But based on crowdsourced reports, it seems certain other evolution triggers are taking priority.

As seasoned Pokemon Masters know, several Eeveelutions have special requirements that override any nickname you bestow:

Per data submitted to The Silph Road subreddit, over 87% of nickname trick fails seem tied to inadvertent activation of the above triggers – dashing our dreams of a destined Vaporeon or Flareon for the likes of Umbreon.

And that‘s not accounting for reported game glitches misregistering new names!

A Purposeful Change? Niantic‘s Occult Design Choices

Some speculate Niantic deliberately patched the nickname cheat as certain Eeveelutions like Umbreon and Espeon have grown quite powerful in the Go Battle League meta.

Browse popular PvP thread /r/PokemonGOBattleLeague, and you‘ll see calls to nerf Umbreon‘s tanky stats. Meanwhile psychic giant Espeon puts up as much damage as legendaries like Mewtwo according to PvPoke rankings!

Limiting nickname evolutions thus helps curb the ubiquity of these battlestars compared to weaker Eeveelutions like Glaceon or Leafeon.

Indeed, in the core Pokemon RPG lore, the Mossy/Icy/Stony environments required for various Eeveelutions intrinsically balances their power and specialty.

In the MSGs, you can‘t just evolve any Eevee into Sylveon or Glaceon anywhere – you have to manually expose them to niche conditions indicative of their typing. So in some ways, Niantic preserving the randomness of Flareon and Jolteon keeps with canon themes…

But we players sure do miss that shortcut to our beloved Umbreons!

Presumptive Ways To Restore The Magic (Niantic Please Read!)

While we don‘t know if the lapsed nickname trick is permanent, we collectors and battlers alike hope this useful tool returns someday soon.

I personally propose Niantic implements evolution items akin to the core games. Give us special one-use Mossy/Icy/Stony items to manually trigger desired Eeveelutions without proximity evolves mucking things up! That way we can finally guarantee any Eevee into an Umbreon regardless of the time of day.

Barring new items, it would also be terrific if renaming Eevee could prevent random evolutions again.

Even just one reuse after say…3 years would delight long-time fans who felt the initial 2016 trick was too short-lived.

Ultimately, choice and customization makes evolutions so fun – losing reliable access to niche Eeveelutions like Glaceon or Sylveon makes building our ideal teams over the years harder.

So Niantic, if you‘re reading…pretty please? 🥺 Reinstate the nickname trick in some creative form!

Your pal,
Eevee4Ever