Espeon has been my favourite Pokémon ever since its debut in Pokémon Gold & Silver – back in those days leaks surrounding new Pokémon titles were far from common making a completely blind first playthrough very possible. Not knowing Eevee had acquired two new evolutions, you can imagine my surprise at eight years old watching my Eevee randomly evolve into a psychic cat of destruction!
At least once every format I attempt to make my favourite Pokémon viable; ironically 2016, in a format full of big, scary cover legendary Pokémon, was the last time Espeon displayed it’s potential in competitive play with its ability to bounce back Dark Voids from Smeargle and Trick Xerneas’ Power Herb away. Naturally, I took full advantage of this surprise viability by featuring Espeon in my 2016 nationals team and that, I thought, would be it for this fabulous Pink creature…
That is, until, the new Dynamax feature was unveiled for VGC 20 which promised to be a mechanic in which all Pokémon would be given a chance to shine in competitive play. How could I resist giving Espeon another shot at the realms of competitive play?