Unlock Espeon And Umbreon With This Pokemon Go Easter Egg

Pokémon Go's latest update didn't just release a horde of new Pokémon into the wild—it also added a handful of brand-new evolutions to existing Pokémon, allowing your faithful companions to transform into new, second generation creatures.

Not only that, but if you're a dedicated Pokémon fan, you might have a leg up on the competition. As confirmed by popular Pokémon tracking site The Silph Road, naming your Eevee either Sakura or Tamao will transform the critter into an Espeon or an Umbreon, respectively. As with any other Pokémon, you'll also need to feed the Eevee candy—25 pieces, in this case—before the evolution takes place.

While that may seem random to the majority of the 500 million people who have downloaded Niantic Labs' popular augmented reality game, it's actually a subtle reference for die-hard Pokéfans: in the Pokémon animated series, a character named Sakura owns an Eevee who eventually evolves into an Espeon, while Sakura's sister, Tamao, battles with an Umbreon.

This isn't the only time that deep Pokémon knowledge has made it easier to control an Eevee's evolution. When Pokémon Go first debuted, savvy players realized that naming an Eevee after Rainer, Pyro, or Sparky—Pokémon's Eevee brothers—would make the Pokémon involve into a Vaporeon, Jolteon, or Flareon. If players try to evolve an Eevee without using a special name, the evolutionary form is chosen at random.

Pokémon Go's Gen. 2 update looks like it's breathing some new life into the mobile title, especially after the game's limited-time Valentine's Day event fell short of expectations. If you're a lapsed Pokémon Go player, or are one of the few people out there who haven't tried it at all, it's not a bad time to (re-)install the game on your phone—just be careful, because it's very, very easy to let Pokémon Go ruin your life.