To evolve Eevee into Umbreon, you generally need two things: high friendship/happiness with Eevee and a nighttime evolution. Exact steps vary a bit by game, so I’ll cover the main ones.

Core idea (most mainline games)

In most core PokƩmon games (like X/Y, Scarlet/Violet, etc.), Umbreon evolution works like this:

  1. Raise Eevee’s friendship/happiness to a high value.
  2. Make sure it does not know a Fairy-type move in games where that matters (e.g., Scarlet/Violet).
  1. Level it up (battle or Rare Candy) at night.
  2. When it tries to evolve, accept the evolution to get Umbreon.

If it evolves with high friendship during the day , you usually get Espeon instead.

How to raise Eevee’s friendship

Common friendship-boosting methods across games:

  • Keep Eevee in your party and walk/run around with it a lot.
  • Win battles with Eevee (avoid letting it faint).
  • Use items that increase happiness, like vitamins and healing items (Potions, etc.).
  • Give it a Soothe Bell if your game has one, to boost friendship gains.
  • In some games, use massages or similar services (e.g., certain NPCs who raise happiness).

In X/Y specifically, once a happiness checker NPC says something like ā€œIt looks really happy! It must love you a lot.ā€ you know you’re at or near max friendship; then level up at night to get Umbreon.

Example: PokƩmon Scarlet & Violet

For Scarlet/Violet, players commonly report this pattern:

  1. Raise friendship (Soothe Bell, walking, battles without fainting).
  2. Make sure Eevee is at least around level 20+.
  3. Ensure Eevee has no Fairy-type moves (otherwise you may get Sylveon instead).
  1. Level it up at night to trigger Umbreon’s evolution.

If it starts to evolve during the day, or it knows a Fairy move and you get the wrong evolution, cancel the evolution and try again at night after fixing the moveset.

PokĆ©mon GO version (if that’s your game)

In PokƩmon GO, the method is different:

  • Set Eevee as your Buddy.
  • Walk 10 km with it as your Buddy, making sure you earn 2 candies with it as Buddy in that time.
  • While it is still your Buddy, evolve it at night to get Umbreon (evolving in the day gives Espeon).

There is also a one-time-only naming trick with specific nicknames for some Eeveelutions, but after using that, the 10 km + Buddy + night method is what players rely on.

Quick HTML table (main patterns)

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Game/Type</th>
      <th>Friendship Requirement</th>
      <th>Extra Conditions</th>
      <th>When to Evolve</th>
      <th>Result</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Mainline games (X/Y, etc.) [web:3][web:5]</td>
      <td>High friendship/happiness</td>
      <td>Keep Eevee from fainting, use Soothe Bell, vitamins, walking, massages</td>
      <td>Level up at night</td>
      <td>Umbreon</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Scarlet & Violet [web:9]</td>
      <td>High friendship</td>
      <td>No Fairy-type moves, level 20+ recommended</td>
      <td>Level up at night</td>
      <td>Umbreon</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Mainline (daytime alternative) [web:3][web:5]</td>
      <td>High friendship</td>
      <td>Same as Umbreon conditions</td>
      <td>Level up during the day</td>
      <td>Espeon</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>PokƩmon GO [web:1][web:8]</td>
      <td>Walk 10 km as Buddy (earn 2 candies)</td>
      <td>Keep Eevee as Buddy when evolving</td>
      <td>Evolve at night</td>
      <td>Umbreon</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Mini story example

Imagine you catch an Eevee early in your adventure and give it a Soothe Bell.
You keep it in your party, let it win easy battles, heal it when needed, and visit a massage NPC once per day.
After a while, the happiness checker tells you it ā€œreally loves you,ā€ so you wait until in-game night, feed it a Rare Candy, and watch it glow as it evolves into a sleek, dark Umbreon that’s ready to tank hits for your team.

TL;DR: Max out Eevee’s friendship and evolve it at night (plus ā€œno Fairy movesā€ in some newer games), or in PokĆ©mon GO, walk 10 km with it as Buddy and evolve at night to get Umbreon.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.