Ninetales the Fox Pokémon. Some legends claim that each of its nine tails has its own unique type of special mystical power. It has nine long tails and fur that gleams gold. It is said to live for 1,000 years.
Overview
One of the first generation Fire types, Ninetales has captivated trainers for generations, especially once it gained Drought in the fifth generation. Now Ninetales can shape entire teams around itself thanks to Drought enabling deadly Fire type and Chlorophyll sweepers like Typhlosion and Shiftry. Ninetales teammates aren’t the only ones who can take advantage of Drought; Ninetales own Fire STAB is incredibly dangerous under the sun and access to chargeless Solar Beam answers many of the Pokémon Fire types normally fear. Nasty Plot turns Ninetales into an utter nightmare and reaching the benchmark of Base 100 Speed keeps Ninetales competitive with many other sweepers. Ninetales is far from frail either; Fire has a wide defensive profile and Base 100 Special Defense offers Ninetales many opportunities to boost or wreak all sorts of havoc with its generous disruptive movepool and wide coverage.
Despite Sun being stronger than ever before, generations of power creep have placed Ninetales in a tight spot. Base 100 Speed is merely the benchmark for most offensive Pokémon, with many others easily outstripping Ninetales without effort. Ninetales is also incredibly reliant on Nasty Plot for damage, as without it, its Base 81 Special Attack is wholly unimpressive. Stiff competition with Torkoal as a Drought user further complicates matters, as Torkoal’s far greater bulk in practice and access to Yawn and Rapid Spin give it far more utility as a Sun setter as opposed to Ninetales. As a standalone Fire type, Ninetales doesn’t fare much better, its low Special Attack has it pale in comparison to offensive Fire types like Typhlosion, Delphox, and Armarouge, while Rotom-Heat and Arcanine offer more for supportive Fire types. Regardless, Drought is still an incredibly high bar to set, and Ninetales many positives ensure it will continue to captivate trainers for generations to come.
Positives
Drought is a game warping ability, enabling weather strategies and buffing Ninetales Fire STAB to respectable levels.
Ninetales is left wanting for few moves, having a great range of coverage, buffing in Nasty Plot, and a wide selection of disruption in Encore, Memento, Will-O-Wisp, and more.
Good Base 100 Special Defense and the many resistances Fire provides enables Ninetales to endure a few Special attacks if need be.
Negatives
Base 81 Special Attack is lacking without a Nasty Plot or Sun Boosted Fire STAB boost leaving Ninetales struggling to break through more Specially Defensive targets if it can’t find the time to boost.
Lacks direct answers to Dragon types that resist both Fire STAB and Solar Beam.
No reliable recovery, below average Defense and common weaknesses make it difficult for Ninetales to stick around and re-establish Sun.
Stiff competition as a Sun setter with Torkoal and as a fire type in general with many other excellent options.
Movesets
Kurama
-Nasty Plot
-Fire Blast
-Solar Beam
-Scorching Sands
Ability: Drought
Item: Heat Rock
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Ninetales aims to use Drought for its own benefit here as a searing sun sweeper. Take advantage of Ninetales stellar Special bulk and great Speed to force out an opponent for easy Nasty Plot setup and then proceed with blasting the opposing team to pieces. Fire Blast is terrifying, melting sweepers before a Nasty Plot boost and after a boost, even specially defensive targets like Alolan Muk are soundly 2 hit KOd. Solar Beam offers invaluable coverage, hitting Rock and Water types like Tauros Aqua Breed, Basculgeion, Iron Thorns, etc. that can stomach Ninetales Fire STAB with ease. Scorching Sand is both valuable coverage, hitting opposing Fire types that resist both STAB and Solar Beam as well as utility, offering an impressive chance to Burn that can cripple some would be checks.
Tera Types:
Tera Grass is the clear standout here, turning all of Ninetales weaknesses into resistances as well as boosting Solar Beam, which can be necessary to muscle past the more specially defensive Water types. Tera Fire should not be discounted; the combined bonuses of Sun, Nasty Plot and Tera Fire start escalating out of control quickly, with even resisted Fire Blasts doing obscene damage, as well as muscling past sturdier sponges like Florges. Tera Fairy gives Ninetales a direct answer to Dragon types that it can otherwise struggle against as well as boasting a fantastic defensive profile for ease of setting up Nasty Plot.
EVs and Items:
As with many sweepers, Max Speed and Special Attack so Ninetales can get the jump on as many targets as possible and get the most mileage out of Nasty Plot. Any offensive Ninetales should be running Special Attack investment as its low Base 81 Special Attack is very much apparent against bulkier Sponges and a single Nasty Plot cannot compensate. More supportive Ninetales can forego the Special Attack for HP investment, since damage isn’t their end go and living to provide more disruption is far more damaging. Heat Rock is recommended to keep Sun up as long as possible, for both Ninetales and its teammate’s benefit. Otherwise Life Orb is a good standby for both the power boost and move flexibility.
Partners:
Chlorophyll sweepers like Shiftry and Venusaur are natural partners for Ninetales, taking advantage of Drought’s sun to supercharge both their Speed and Growth, all the while forming a solid Grass Fire core, enabling them to easily pivot into Ninetales weaknesses and visa versa. Protosynthesis Pokémon like Brute Bonnet and Slither Wings also fall into this category, loving Ninetales Sun tiggering their own abilities.
Physical Attackers are invaluable for offensive Ninetales who often struggles against Sponges without multiple boosts. Tauros Aqua and Bruxish are clear standouts, completing the Fire-Water-Grass core while having secondary STABs so they aren’t completely ruined by Sun. Tauros Aqua smashing Chansey with Fighting STAB is especially invaluable, given Chansey is one of the few that absolutely requires multiple Nasty Plots to overcome, while Bruxish threatens Florges with Strong Jaw Poison Fang as well as compromising other wall with its Toxic chance. Piloswine also deserves mention; while not liking the sun boosting Fire attacks, its ability to threaten Goodra with Physical Ice STAB is an acceptable trade off.
Other Options:
Memento/Healing Wish are fantastic options for Ninetales getting in its Sun abusing teammates quickly and safely. Memento is more offensive, sapping a targets offense and greatly facilitate Growth setup, while Healing Wish enables Ninetales to heal up a Sun Sweeping teammate for a second attempt at running over the opponent.
Encore is another setup facilitator, trapping your opponent in a move that makes them predictable and will often force a switch.
Energy Ball while being much weaker than Solar Beam is not tied to the weather and is more resilient to weather disruption from your opponent.
Will-O-Wisp is fantastic on Ninetales that already boasts great Special bulk and cripples opposing physical sweepers for the rest of the match.
VGC & Doubles Options
Ever since getting Drought, Kantonian Ninetales has always had consideration for VGC, simply due to the power of weather. However Ninetales suffers the dishonor of being the worst Drought user in the game. Torkoal and Groudon have seen plenty of play thanks to their titanic bulk enabling them to repeatedly tank attacks and pivot out to re-establish Sun later in the match, something Ninetales struggles to do. Both also possess far greater offense between high attacking stats and Torkoal having access to Eruption, while Ninetales is more passive without Nasty Plot and struggles to find the time to setup in the fast-paced Doubles format. Even Ninetales Speed slightly hinders it; since abilities resolve in the order of Speed, if multiple weather setters are sent out, Ninetales being the fastest setter in most circumstances means that its weather will be overwritten. Being the worst Drought user is still a very high bar however; Sun is incredibly powerful with all the paradox Pokémon running around, and liable to get stronger..
Amaterasu
-Overheat
-Heat Wave
-Helping Hand
-Will-O-Wisp
Tera Type: Fire
Ability: Drought
Item: Eject Pack
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Ninetales differentiates itself from Torkoal with its high Speed, enabling it to act as a speedy one time pivot with Eject Pack, or even punish opponents that open with Intimidate by having Ninetales set Sun and then switch out to a Sun abusing teammate immediately with no momentum lost on the first turn. Overheat is for explicit use with Eject Pack acting as a rather nuclear U-Turn, while Heat Wave is STAB reserved for use once Eject Pack has been exhausted offering appreciable spread damage. As Ninetales offense isn’t the greatest, Helping Hand proves incredible, making its partner even more threatening and enabling them to grab KOs out of nowhere. Will-O-Wisp is fantastic in a format so saturated with physical attackers, removing an opponent’s threat or win condition and helps keep your own team up.
Ninetales’ differentiating point from Torkoal is its speed, so Speed investment is natural, while the Special Attack investment ensures Ninetales is not completely passive in end game scenarios. Tera Fire is recommended for bolstering Heat Wave, but considering Ninetales supportive role, it is far preferable saving Terastalization for one of Ninetales’ partners.
Other Options and Preferred Partners:
Encore is one of the most disruptive moves in Doubles, considering the large number of moves that do nothing or are actively detrimental when repeated, temporarily turning a fight into a 2 against 1. Solar Beam is powerful coverage that answers most of Ninetales’ weaknesses. Snarl pairs well with Will-O-Wisp, rending an opponent’s offenses and making Ninetales team that much more bulky. Protect is fantastic in Doubles. Stall out opposing Tailwind or Trick Room. Stop a Fake Out, scout for moves. Protect does so much for a Pokémon that it is noticeably less durable without it..
Countering Ninetales
Ninetales utility begins and ends with weather, so any opposing weather disruption is invaluable. Having Tyranitar, Politoed, and Pelipper come in on a predicted Solar Beam places Ninetales in a very tight spot, almost certainly forced to take severe damage. This is true to a lesser extent with Alolan Ninetales and Abomasnow, but they lack coverage to deal with Ninetales and don’t relish the thought of switching into a Fire attack.
Offensive sets often struggle to break past sponges, often requiring multiple Nasty Plots to deal meaningful damage. Chansey, Assault Vest Hariyama, and Assault Vest Goodra are by far the best, the former two able to heal off any damage with Softboiled and Drain Punch while the latter pHazes out with Dragon Tail or threatens STAB/coverage. Florges and Snorelax also work well, unless Ninetales terastalizes to Fire as does non Assault Vest Goodra variants, though Florges needs to terastalize to do decent damage back.
Revenge or preemptively eliminating Ninetales can work as well. Scarf Blaze Tauros takes every attack except Scorching Sands well and can outspeed and reliably 2HKO while being immune to burns. Lycanroc-Day, Ambipom, Maushold, and Scarf Staraptor also work, but cannot tank an attack and all loathe getting hit by Will-O-Wisp.
Alolan Ninetales, the Fox Pokémon. Possessing a calm demeanor, this Pokémon was revered as a deity incarnate before it was identified as a regional variant of Ninetales. It creates drops of ice in its coat and showers them over its enemies. Anyone who angers it will be frozen stiff in an instant.
Overview
Alolan Ninetales returns to the ninth generation with aplomb, being the definitive best Aurora Veil setter around. The change from Hail to Snow has been nothing but beneficial to Alolan Ninetales, with Snow not only providing Alolan Ninetales a buff to its weaker Defense, but also makes it far easier to slot onto teams that no longer have to worry about Hail chipping down all of Alolan Ninetales non Ice teammates. Part of the key to Alolan Ninetales success is its fantastic Base 109 Speed, getting the jump on every defensive Pokémon and even many offensive ones. This is fantastic not only for setting up Aurora Veil uninterrupted, but for Alolan Ninetales to exercise its wonderful Ice and Fairy STABs, able to threaten many popular staples like Landorus-Therian, Gliscor, Garchomp and Salamence on top of many Ground, Dragon, Flying and Ogerpon staples. Alolan Ninetales’ impressive Special Defense coupled with Snow’s Defense boost leaves it far from frail, able to take neutral hits with ease.
Generational power creep has not been kind to Alolan Ninetales, however. Base 109 Speed which was blazing fast in previous years is now outcrept by a wide host of foes, most of which threaten Alolan Ninetales greatly. Ice’s curse leaves Ninetales plagued by a large host of weaknesses including an unfortunate quadruple weakness to Steel and a weakness to Stealth Rock that makes re-establishing Aurora Veil difficult. Alolan Ninetales Special Attack remains below average, making it passive when not exploiting quadruple weaknesses. An inability to handle Steel types in general further exasperate’s Alolan Ninetales offensive woes, given the popularity of Kingambit, Gholdengo, Heatran, Scizor and Steel as a defensive Terastalization. As a supportive Pokémon, Alolan Ninetales has never been flying higher, but power creep has left its mark.
Positives
Snow Warning like any weather setting ability is definitive for Alolan Ninetales, enabling teammates and giving it a vital defense boost.
Snow Warning lik
Aurora Veil is a incredible move, setting both screens in a single turn, enabling all sorts of walls and setup sweepers to exploit the increased bulk.
Snow Warning lik
Base 100 Special Defense is good, and with the boost from Snow, Alolan Ninetales physical defense is even higher.
Snow Warning lik
Base 109 Speed is great, getting the jump on most Pokémon, easing Aurora Veil setup…
Negatives
…but is no longer as impressive given many faster threats that are regularly available without much opportunity cost.
Ice typing sabotages Alolan Ninetales’ good defenses with a plethora of weaknesses and a Stealth Rock weakness that leave it much frailer that one would otherwise expect.
Base 81 Special Attack is rather passive by current standards leaving Alolan Ninetales reliant on type advantage or Nasty Plot to make up the difference.
Inability to handle Steel and Fire types is an obvious point of exploitation.
Movesets
Tsukuyomi
-Aurora Veil
-Nasty Plot
-Blizzard
-Moonblast
Ability: Snow Warning
Item: Light Clay
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
An offensive Screen setter set, Alolan Ninetales opens with Aurora Veil to enable its teammates or go for the sweep itself using the extra bulk afforded by Aurora Veil to setup Nasty Plot. Nasty Plot is mandatory for patching up Alolan Ninetales poor offense, enabling it to exercise its fantastic STAB. Blizzard is the primary STAB, unable to miss due to Snow and having a high base Power to make up for Alolan Ninetales lower base Special Attack. Moonblast is secondary STAB that mercifully has great coverage while not being dependent on the weather.
Tera Types:
Most Alolan Ninetales are not a strong recommendation for Terastalization, instead saving the Terastalization for teammates exploiting the extra bulk from Aurora Veil. Even when considering Alolan Ninetales for Terastalization, it is in a similar position to Tyranitar, where it does want to shed its base typing, but loathes losing the Defense boost from Snow that gives it so much extra bulk. If you must Water is the preferred typing, giving valuable resistances to Fire and Steel on top of being a stellar defensive Tera in general. Tera Fairy is a more offensive option, shedding most of Ice’s weaknesses leaving the stellar base Fairy typing that is being super charged offensively. Offensive Teras for more coverage are hard to justify given you are forced to either give up the fantastic Aurora Veil, Nasty Plot, or one of Alolan Ninetales’ STABs.
EVs and Items:
Standard sweeper allotment of Speed and offense. Speed is nonnegotiable; you want Alolan Ninetales to get up Aurora Veil before it can be struck and being able to attack before being attacked will keep Alolan Ninetales healthier in the long run. When running Nasty Plot, max Special Attack investment is heavily recommended to get the most out of Nasty Plot. If not running Nasty Plot, Special Attack investment can be sacrificed for HP investment, giving Alolan Ninetales more opportunities to reestablish Aurora Veil. For items, Alolan Ninetales has many it wants to run. Light Clay is recommended for getting the most out of each Aurora Veil, though Focus Sash is good for a Suicide lead set, and Heavy Duty Boots allows for repeated pivoting without Alolan Ninetales being eaten alive by entry hazards.
Partners:
Ice types like Baxcalibur and Mamoswine love Alolan Ninetales, the extra bulk afforded by both Aurora Veil and Snow is simply absurd, enabling them to tank even super effective physical attacks, greatly facilitating Swords Dance/Trailblaze setup to push for a lethal sweep.
Pokémon that can reliably answer Steel types work well too, loving Alolan Ninetales drawing them in for an easy pivot. Fire types especially work well with Alolan Ninetales loving the extra bulk Aurora Veil making up for their oft lower defenses. Ceruledge stands out, able to blank not only Steel, and Fire but Poison as well and use the opportunity to setup Swords Dance and Bulk Up. Hisuian Arcanine, Infernape, and Iron Moth are also excellent fire typed Examples. Ursaluna also excels, its titanic bulk becoming even more monstrous under veil and breaking through most Pokémon with ease due to sheer power.
Gholdengo is another standout pick. While it too loves the bulk boost from Aurora Veil for ease of setup, its ability to block Defog from clearing Screens prematurely gives it another safe pivoting point and helps Alolan Ninetales’ trainer get the most out of Aurora Veil.
Other Options:
Freeze Dry is a great alternative STAB over Blizzard. While the power drop is significant, being able to hit Water types enables Alolan Ninetales to hit so many Pokémon for super effective damage it can become harder to wall.
Encore again deserves mention, locking an opponent into a move and making them rather predictable, enabling a safe switch in for setup.
VGC & Doubles Options
Considering that Alolan Ninetales has seen great success in singles for Aurora Veil and Snow Warning alone, its excelling in doubles where Screens and Weather are stronger is more a question of how much than a question of if. Indeed, Alolan Ninetales finds itself at home in Doubles formats, setting up Screens to make its team impossibly bulky and enabling the occasional Ice fueled offensive with the passive Snow Buff. Even though Snow is still the weakest weather, Snow is potent disruption, enabling Alolan Ninetales to shutdown other weather-based strategies and sap momentum just by switching in. The popularity of weather is a double-edged sword, however, and just as much as Alolan Ninetales can disrupt weather setup by switching in, so too can an opponent switch in a Torkoal or Pelipper and deny Alolan Ninetales from setting Aurora Veil. Ice’s many weaknesses is another pain point, and the popularity of Flutter Mane means that every team has an answer to a powerful Fairy attacker.
Shrine Guardian
-Aurora Veil
-Blizzard
-Moonblast
-Protect
Tera Type: Fire/Ghost/Dark
Ability: Snow Warning
Item: Light Clay
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Alolan Ninetales acts similarly in Doubles that it does in Singles, setting Snow and Aurora Veil to make its side extra bulky before wearing the opponent down with spread Blizzards, hitting many popular targets like Tornadus, Landorus-Therian, Rillaboom, Amoongus, Sinistcha, Roaring Moon, etc. Moonblast is the preferred Single STAB, being single target so Alolan Ninetales isn’t walled by Wide Guard and hitting Chien Pao, Iron Hands, Urshifu and more. Protect remains invaluable in Doubles, blocking Fake Out, stalling out Tailwind and Trick Room, scouting for moves and Terastalizations and more.
Max Speed and Special Attack are recommended, for getting up Aurora Veil as quickly as possible and preventing Alolan Ninetales from being passive once it has done so. Timid is strongly recommended, not only enabling Alolan Ninetales to outstrip non-Max Speed Ogerpon, but also so it isn’t outsped by Jolly Urshifu, though Modest for the extra firepower is worth it if that is too narrow a slice of the opposition. Tera Fire is recommended, giving resistances to Fire, Steel, Fairy and Grass, though Tera Ghost for blocking Fake Out and Tera Dark for stopping Prankster Taunt are also worth consideration for guaranteeing Aurora Veil setup.
Other Options and Preferred Partners:
Icy Wind is fantastic Speed control and unlike most users of the move, this is STAB, enabling Alolan Ninetales to do notable chip with it.
Encore is one of the scariest forms of disruption in doubles, if a bit difficult to time, punishing use of Tailwind, Protect, Light Screen, Reflect, Fake Out, the list goes on and on.
Imprison is niche, but notable for shutting down Protect.
Iron Hands is already absurdly bulky to begin with but gets taken up to 11 with Aurora Veil support and its Fake Out is fantastic for guaranteeing Aurora Veil setup. There’s even offensive Electric/Ice synergy, with the two very hard to resist safely.
Sinistcha is a standout partner for Alolan Ninetales, Hospitality pairing wonderfully with Aurora Veil to make Alolan Ninetales side seemingly immortal.
Heatran is a hard stop to most Steel and Fire types, while threatening them back with Earth Power and Fire STAB, making it an ideal pivot for Alolan Ninetales..
Countering Alolan Ninetales
Alolan Ninetales first and most important role is setting up Aurora Veil, so stopping that from coming up is paramount. Weather disruption is fantastic for this; switch in Torkoal, Kantonian Ninetales, Tyranitar, Politoed or Pelipper and Aurora Veil will fizzle before it is setup, though Politoed and Pelipper must be wary of Freeze Dry. Taunt if you have a user out when Alolan Ninetales comes out also works well, though they do need to be faster to pull it off.
If Aurora Veil comes up, removing it early can lure Alolan Ninetales back in so it can be KOd. Defog is fantastic at this, but no Defog user likes remaining in front of Alolan Ninetales due to its Ice STAB. Corviknight would be an exception thanks to Roost and its Steel typing, but needs Iron Head to threaten Alolan Ninetales back effectively, and getting Defog Encored is painful.
Applying constant pressure and eliminating Alolan Ninetales before it can setup Aurora Veil can be viable, though this can by stymied by Focus Sash. Scizor is king, with its priority Bullet Punches being an easy OHKO. Specs Gengar and Specs Iron Moth both natively outspeed and threaten a OHKO, while others like Cornerstone Ogerpon, and Cinderace do so after the tiniest amount of chip damage.
Defensively checking Alolan Ninetales is far simpler due to lacking coverage, leaving Fire and Steel types relatively safe answers. Volcarona, Kingambit, Volcanion, Moltres, Skeledirge, Empoleon and Hisuian Goodra all fit this role well. If Alolan Ninetales isn’t running the rare Shadow Ball or Dark Pulse, the list can be expanded to include Metagross, and Ceruledge.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Evolve Vulpix (Blue/Yellow)
Trade from Blue/Yellow (Red)
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Evolve Vulpix (Silver)
Trade from Silver (Gold/Crystal)
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Evolve Vulpix
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Evolve Vulpix (LeafGreen)
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/LeafGreen (FireRed)
Colosseum/XD:
Evolve Vulpix (XD)
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/LeafGreen (Colosseum)
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Evolve Vulpix
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Evolve Vulpix (SoulSilver)
Trade from Diamond/Pearl/Platinum/SoulSilver (HeartGold)
Black/White:
Abundant Shrine
Black 2/White 2:
Abundant Shrine
X/Y:
Friend Safari
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Evolve Vulpix
Sun/Moon:
Evolve Vulpix (Sun)
Trade from Sun/Ultra Sun (Moon)
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Evolve Vulpix (Ultra Sun)
Trade from Sun/Ultra Sun (Ultra Moon)
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Route 7, Route 8 (Kanto Form) (Let's Go, Eevee)
Evolve Vulpix (Alola Form) (Let's Go, Eevee)
Sword/Shield:
Lake of Outrage (Sword)
Max Raid Battles: Dusty Bowl, Giant's Cap, Hammerlocke Hills, Lake of Outrage, Stony Wilderness, Fields of Honor, Challenge Beach, Loop Lagoon, Potbottom Desert, Giant's Bed, Snowslide Slope, Ballimere Lake
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl:
Evolve Vulpix (Shining Pearl)
Legends: Arceus:
Cobalt Coastlands: Firespit Island or nearby
Cobalt Coastlands: Massive Mass Outbreak
Alabaster Icelands: Massive Mass Outbreak
Scarlet/Violet:
Evolve Vulpix (Kantonian Form)
Evolve Vulpix (Alolan Form - Scarlet)
Tera Raid Battles: 5 Star Raid Battles, 6 Star Raid Battles
Anime Appearences
