*ignoring posts*
The anime just has the pokes touch the stones and they instantly evolve whether they want to or not. In the games, you can stop the evolution even when you've already used the stone on them. (I've never tried this, does that waste the stone?) As for how it works, judging from how they work on Eevee, the implication is that they're accelerating a process that would've happened regularly had they spent enough time exposed to a certain environment. That's just Eevee, though. How it works for everything else that evos by stones, I'm not sure. Not all of them represent a specific kind of energy. My personal theory is that pokes CAN evolve without being exposed to the stones, it just takes longer, and it involves the above process. (being exposed to the environment in question long enough) I don't know what the relation for the Moon Stone is. cosmic rays? I'm honestly not sure how the Sun Stone is different from the Leaf Stone, but it is. (Gloom is evidence of this) The Dawn Stone seems to represent purity, although I don't know how that included Roselia. For this, I guess the pokemon would just have to be selfless and serene. The Dusk Stone seems to be darkness, but it is not the same as night, as that is a different evo method. I'm guess other really dark or sinister places. The Dawn Stone only induces gender specific evos for lines that didn't already have them at the time. I would retcon this out of existence personally, as I don't really see a reason for it to exist.
On the other hand, on the condition that these are a naturally occurring thing, I can accept it as a feasible evo method that doesn't involve humans. I just find it unfair that a poke has to rely on something that may not be close at hand to evolve.
