As Qingyu gazed at the black Eevee evolution before him, which bore some resemblance to his own Sylveon, the corners of his mouth quietly curled upward.
Umbreon, a Dark-type Pokémon, was one of Eevee's eight currently known evolutions. The counterpart to the Psychic-type Espeon, it could evolve after basking in moonlight only if the bond between Eevee and its Trainer was exceptionally strong.
Because Eevee's genetic makeup was highly unstable, they were easily influenced by their surroundings and could evolve into different forms.
Generally, there were two routes to these evolutions: the method discovered early on, which used stones containing highly concentrated elemental energy to guide Eevee's evolution, and strengthening their bond with their Trainers until they gradually fulfilled the conditions for evolution.
In a sense, that bond was also a reflection of their home environment.
There were currently eight known Eevee evolutions, each corresponding to a different type.
As such, quite a few scientists believed Eevee actually had the potential to evolve into seventeen different forms; the others simply had yet to be discovered.
That did make sense, though research into other evolutions had produced no results for a long time since Sylveon's discovery.
In the game, Penny's team consisted of six different Eevee evolutions. He was a devoted fan of the entire Eevee family, so it was no surprise that he would use Umbreon.
But why Umbreon in particular?
Qingyu's smile widened a little more, and he took the initiative to ask before the battle began:
"Penny, why did you choose Umbreon as your lead?"
"Huh?"
Penny, who had been nervously preparing for the start of the battle, apparently hadn't expected that question. He lowered his head in thought for a moment, then quickly gave his answer:
"Instinct, I guess?"
"If I had to explain it... since I