Pokemon Fans Are Just Now Noticing an Interesting Eevee Detail 30 Years Later

Longtime Pokemon fans are discovering an interesting characteristic of Eevee that has passed them by for more than 30 years. Specifically, they’re finding out that the Pokemon anime and games’ most adaptable little monster is just a little bit more colorful than they thought it was, though the detail isn’t exactly hidden in plain sight.

Bearing the title of the Evolution Pokemon, Eevee was one of the original 151 Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Red and Green, which came out in Japan on February 27, 1996. Holding the number 133 slot in the first Pokedex, Eevee was one-of-a-kind in those games, and its rarity and cute design helped boost its popularity quickly, along with its ability to evolve into Vaporeon, Jolteon, or Flareon based on the player’s choice.

Eevee Has A Detail A Lot of Pokemon Fans Have Missed for 30 Years

Eevee’s design and color palette have always been relatively simple, with most of its fur in a brown hue and a large, cream-colored tuft on its chest that carries all the way around its neck, matching the tip of its tail. But many fans are now noticing that there’s also a starkly different bright pink part of Eevee’s body that they’ve just started to realize is there, and it’s been discovered through the official LEGO Pokemon sets that were released on the Pokemon franchise’s 30th anniversary in February. The 587-piece LEGO Eevee set includes a lot of the brown and cream pieces those fans would expect to see, but there are also a few hot pink pieces that left them surprised and confused. These pieces are intended to go on the back of the Eevee build’s legs, and they represent its paw pads.

This realization has led to a sort of Mandela effect, with some players swearing the only visibly pink part of Eevee was its tongue, which is clearly only visible when it opens its mouth. But as some observant fans have pointed out, the pink paw pads have been around for decades, though their appearance isn’t always consistent. Some have pulled up screenshots of the original Pokemon anime for reference, which have depicted Eevee as having pink patches on its paws from as early as episode 40 of the first season, though again, they’re not always included in its design. The stylistic choice isn’t limited to the anime, as Eevee’s models in Pokemon GO and Pokemon HOME also show off the paw pads, which are easily viewable, as those models can be rotated by the player.

It’s understandable why some Pokemon fans would be unable to remember ever seeing Eevee’s paw pads before the LEGO set’s release, as they’re really only visible from behind or underneath. The first pair of Pokemon games were released for the original Game Boy, which displayed everything in green and black, leaving illustrations as the only clue as to how each Pokemon was supposed to be colored in. There’s also the factor of Eevee’s wide range of evolutions, which started with just three but is now up to eight, covering nearly half of the Pokemon types in the franchise. Having that many options means players are more likely to spend much more time with a Sylveon, Umbreon, or one of the other six evolutions rather than an Eevee in its base form.

Image via The Pokemon Company

That having been said, Eevee has still had plenty of time in the spotlight, especially within the last decade. There’s still a lot of appeal to Let’s Go Eevee, which was released in 2018 and gives players a powerful Eevee that cannot be evolved in an altered retelling of the Kanto plot line. Additionally, The Pokemon Company and Nintendo seem to be giving Eevee more attention in the real world as well, as in 2021, an Eevee balloon was introduced as part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. That appearance marked the first time a Pokemon other than Pikachu had been featured in that annual event, and it doesn’t show the paw pads either.

Systems

Released

July 6, 2016

Engine

Unity

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op