Eevee: The Ultimate LGBTQ+ Icon

Pokémon has been around since the early 90s. Today it remains one of the biggest franchises of all time. If you go to Japan, you will find plenty of merchandise featuring the beloved mascot,Pikachu. Even though Pikachu has been the face of Pokémon, several other Pokémon have also had their chance to shine.

Because the manga, anime, films and games seem have different takes on their world-building, it has left many to give their own theories. Common ones include Ash being Giovonni’s son and Ash being in a coma. There’s a plethora of theories on YouTube.

Through this I have come up with a theory of my own regarding Eevee and it’s evolution line. Eevee is another well-loved Pokémon for it’s cuteness and ability to evolve in many types of Pokémon. Unlike other Pokémon, Eevee can change it’s type completely when he evolves. He has the choice eight different species, and I can see them adding more in future generations.

Despite it’s feminine appearance, everyone in the Eevee family has a 12.5% chance of being female. The majority of Pokémon have a 50/50 gender ratio, some are even genderless. Some things in the game’s mechanics make no sense such as Machamps being female and Gardevoirs being male.

As a cis woman, I find this very poignant now, knowing that non-binary and transpeople exist. Now I see the colours of the Eeveelutions as representations of different identifies which can be seen on the pride flags. Just because somebody looks a certain gender, dosen’t mean to say that they are that gender. They may not even identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.

Over the years we’ve learned that Pokémon is more than just a kid’s franchise. The LGBTQ+ is more than just who you fancy, it’s about who you are. Pride month is about feeling validated. Pride month is for everybody.

Eevee’s fairy-type evolution, Sylveon dotes a light pink, blue and white. When I first saw the trans flag, I called it the Sylveon flag until I found out what it meant. The shiny form of Sylveon are these colours inverted. This one was the easiest to put a flag to, whereas others required more research. Throug that I found out about flags I had never heard off until today.

Vapoureon stands behind the bisexual flag. Her normal form is blue like the dark blue on the flag and her shiny colour scheme is prominent in the dark pink and purple. The magenta represents same-sex attraction as the royal blue shows opposit-sex attraction. The lavender shows both. Vaporeon also comes across as a regal Pokémon to me.

Jolteon behind the Maverique Flag (a non-binary gender). Maybe I could have put Flareon on here, but I feel it’s the one that matches the colour scheme the most. It’s a flag that stands out with the bright colours.

Flareon behind the lesbian pride flag. The dark red and orange really suit Flareon which is my I matched Flareon with this flag. Each colour represents traits such as; gender non-conformity, independence, unique relationships, serenity, peace, love, sex and femininity. I think all the eeveelutons could be seen as this.

Espeon represents the queergender flag. The purple (androgyny) for her normal form and the green (non-binary) for her shiny form. Espeon has always been one of my favorite Pokémon for her feline design and lovely colours. I’ve started to notice a lot of the colours mean something very different on other flags. It’s cool.

Umbreon represents asexuality. One of the few pride flags to have black in which made Umbreon hard to place. Perhaps there’s more better flags that would suit him more. Black is a sexuality as a wholeand Umbreon’s original Japanese name is literally just Blacky. Grey is for a sexuality and demisexuality which means there is no sexual attraction without an emotional attachment. White is for sexuality and purple represents community. I think this fitting since Umbreon is one of the most popular Pokémon in the entire franchise.

Glaceon stands behind the Demi-boy flag. I matched Glaceon with this flag because of her pale colours and colour-scheme. I’m not sure if this flag is official yet though, but Glaceon supports all demiboys.

Leafeon stands behind the aromantic flag because of the green colours. Leafeon stands for people who have little or no romantic attraction towards others.

The ability to have many different forms and to be so focused on evolution and identies makes me see Eevee as the ultimate LGBTQ+ icon. Their evolutions match the aesthetics that people within the community can relate to. These flags are updated all the time and new types of genders and sexualities are being discovered and studied everyday. I’ve put Eevee behind the progress flag because I can still see Eevee getting more evolutions in the future, just as much as the LGBTQ+ community make progress.