Is Ninetales Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
AbilityFlash Fire makes Ninetales immune to Fire and powers up its own Fire moves when hit by one. That's a game-changer defensively. In RS, Ninetales handles Sidney's team, contributes against Steven's Skarmory, and the Fire Stone timing is the main gate. One of the better Fire options in Hoenn.
Roxanne's team hits Vulpix's weaknesses hard.
Vulpix trades roughly evenly with Brawly's team.
Vulpix has the type edge here and should clean up Wattson's team.
Vulpix trades roughly evenly with Flannery's team.
Norman's typing presses Vulpix's defenses.
Winona's team hits Vulpix's weaknesses hard.
Tate & Liza's typing presses Ninetales's defenses.
Ninetales trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Ninetales has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Ninetales has the type edge here and should clean up Phoebe's team.
Ninetales has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Drake's team hits Ninetales's weaknesses hard.
Ninetales has the type edge here and should clean up Steven's team.
Catch Vulpix
Catch Vulpix in Mt. Pyre (walking, Lv 25-29, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 25)
- LV 25FireEmberPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Flannery
- TM50FireOverheatPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Prize for defeating Flannery
- LV 29FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Norman
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- After Wallace
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Meteor Falls
Evolve Vulpix to Ninetales
Vulpix evolves into Ninetales with a Fire Stone. You can pick up the Fire Stone in Fiery Path.
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Mauville Game Corner
- After Flannery
- TM50FireOverheatPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Prize for defeating Flannery
- After Norman
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- After Wallace
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Meteor Falls
How to Get Ninetales in Ruby & Sapphire
Catch a Vulpix on Mt. Pyre, then use a Fire Stone for Ninetales. The evolved fox is a stone evolution only, never a wild catch.
Wild Ninetales may be holding when caught:
Rawst Berry (always) A hold item that heals a burn in battle.Catch Vulpix at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Ninetales.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
- 1Catch Vulpix
- 2Evolve NinetalesUse Fire Stone
Badge 6How to Obtain Ninetales in RS
- Step 1Catch Vulpix
- Step 2Ninetales ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Vulpix egg.
How to Get Shiny Ninetales in Ruby & Sapphire
Search the grass of Mt. Pyre for a shiny Vulpix, then finish it into Ninetales with a Fire Stone, since Ninetales never turns up wild. Compare Shiny Ninetales odds across every game
Ruby & Sapphire Shiny Ninetales Calculator
2 MethodsBoth methods here share the same odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try. Pick whichever fits how you play.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breeding: Hatch eggs of this line; each egg rolls at the base shiny rate (no Masuda before Gen IV).
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Ninetales in the Ruby & Sapphire Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Ninetales Weakness
Type-wise, Ninetales takes extra damage from Water, Ground, and Rock. The Fire typing picks up 5 resistances to work with. Flash Fire grants an additional Fire immunity, reshaping the matchup chart. Ninetales's special bulk (base 100 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Ground, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Ninetales Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Ninetales
 Swampert WaterGround | S | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Swampert builds →Earthquake 2x105-124%KO Surf 2x64-75% Rock Tomb 2x36-42% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Rhydon builds →Earthquake 2x122-143%KO Rock Tomb 2x61-72% Surf 2x27-32% | ||
 Flygon GroundDragon | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Flygon builds →Earthquake 2x98-115%KO Rock Tomb 2x33-39% | ||
 Walrein IceWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Spheal (Shoal Cave Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Walrein builds →Surf 2x70-83% Earthquake 2x54-64% Rock Tomb 2x28-33% | ||
 Donphan Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Donphan builds →Earthquake 2x113-133%KO Rock Tomb 2x38-45% | ||
 Camerupt FireGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Camerupt builds →Earthquake 2x98-115%KO Rock Slide 2x49-58% | ||
 Azumarill Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Azurill (Petalburg City Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Azumarill builds →Hydro Pump 2x61-72% Dig 2x23-28% Rollout 2x12-15% | ||
 Sandslash Ground | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Sandslash builds →Earthquake 2x98-115%KO Rock Tomb 2x33-39% | ||
 Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Graveler builds →Earthquake 2x93-109%KO Rock Tomb 2x47-56% | ||
 Pelipper Water | C | |
Obtain MethodDewford Town Surfing | ||
 Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 111 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Regirock builds →Earthquake 2x65-77% Ancient Power 2x59-69% | ||
 Armaldo RockBug | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Rustboro City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Armaldo builds →Earthquake 2x78-93% Ancient Power 2x71-84% Water Pulse 2x23-28% | ||
 Claydol GroundPsychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ninetales View Claydol builds →Earthquake 2x72-86% Ancient Power 2x30-35% | ||
Ninetales Evolutions
Ninetales evolved from Vulpix's chain using an evolution item. It's a non-standard trigger, so check the details below. Breed this form to get Vulpix eggs (average hatch time). The evolution from Vulpix pushed Ninetales to 505 total stats. HP saw the largest single gain at +35. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Ninetales to get Vulpix eggs easily using 102 partners from the Field egg group. Notable egg moves include Disable, Feint Attack, Flail and 5 more.
RS Ninetales Best Moveset
Fire immunity and a Fire move boost through AbilityFlash Fire lets Ninetales switch into Fire threats for free. MoveFire Blast from 81 Sp. Atk at 100 Speed. MoveWill-O-Wisp burns physical attackers. Held ItemLeftovers sustains. Fire switch-in utility with enough Speed to act first.
Best Build
Ninetales best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Attacker Moveset
- Flamethrower
- Will O Wisp
- Overheat
- Hypnosis
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding's the move. Disable and Feint Attack give Ninetales options it can't learn any other way, and Normal and Ground coverage and more already covers a decent range on top of Overheat and Fire Blast. The egg moves push it further.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
All 19 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
NINETALES casts a sinister light from its bright red eyes to gain total control over its foe’s mind. This POKéMON is said to live for a thousand years.
Legend has it that NINETALES came into being when nine wizards possessing sacred powers merged into one. This POKéMON is highly intelligent - it can understand human speech.
Ninetales Ruby & Sapphire Guide
Ninetales is obtained in Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire by evolving Vulpix using a Fire Stone.
Game Availability
Available since Red & Blue, Ninetales appears in 21 games spanning 9 generations. Beyond its original form, it gained an Alolan form in Generation 7.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SMAlolan
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
Explore
Where to go next after Ninetales.
Keep playing · Ruby & SapphireRuby & Sapphire Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Ruby & Sapphire Tier List