Some of the best Pokémon Go players have one thing in common: They all use Vaporeon, according to Kotaku. Teams are led by Vaporeon, gyms are being defended by Vaporeon, Vaporeon is truly all the rage within the Pokémon Go community, despite not being the best Pokémon stat wise in the game. Vaporeon is ranked No. 13 in the game thanks to its 186 attack, 169 defense and 260 stamina. Vaporeon is behind mainly Legendary Pokémon that aren’t yet available in the game, but of all the non-legendary Pokémon ahead of Vaporeon, only Dragonite, Snorlax, Lapras, Arcanine, Blastoise, Exeggutor, and Gyrados have better stats in the game.
Of the Pokémon listed above, Vaporeon is the easiest to obtain. According to a Reddit poll which has over 17 thousand responses, Eevee was one of the most common Pokémon for Pokémon Go players to get. Eevee only needs 25 Eevee candies in order to evolve, so if you’re in an area inhabited by a lot of Eevee, players will be able to get it with ease.
An article in Primagames mentions the myths that are associated with evolving your Eevee and advice on how to evolve your Eevee into the Eeveelution you want. Once believed that it was random, one of the key ways to evolve your Eevee into the Eeveelution of your choice, all you have to do is rename your Eevee. Players who want Vaporeon in their party need to rename your Eevee “Rainer.” Likewise, players need to rename their Eevee “Sparky” to evolve it into Jolteon and “Pyro” to evolve it into Flareon. Also, players are advised to wait until level 15 to evolve your Eevee. Catching an Eevee at this level will guarantee that your Eevee will have a high CP so that you don’t have to waste a lot of your stardust to make your Eevee stronger.
Defending and conquering gyms is the key goal of the game, so with Vaporeon’s high stats and how easy it is to have one in your party, it’s easy to see why it’s so popular within Pokémon Go.