>>54826107The entire philosophy is different.
See
>>54824839.
To start, Espeon are obviously based on Nekomata, a type of demon cats with two tails that split from the tip of the original.
But their feminine alien look and shiny version could very well be referencing "Midori no Neko", a jade-colored cat with an otherwordly green glow (guess the twist).
And last but not least, their red jewel could mean Espeon were also inspired by a creature from Final Fantasy called Carbuncle, which has a similar gem that uses Ruby Light to cast Reflect- a spell that makes MAGIC BOUNCE back to the enemy.
Espeon looks like a simple design but a lot of thought was put into it. Sylveon is the opposite of that-- even the name is careless, as sylphs were originally air spirits with no relation to fairies.
