Pokédex · I (Kanto)

Ninetales#038

Strong point: Sp. Def — higher than 86% of species. This is the final form of its line — it does not evolve any further. On defense it has 3 weaknesses and 6 resistances.

Ninetales
Shiny version
Fire
Height: 1.1 m (3′07″) Weight: 19.9 kg (43.9 lbs)

Base stats

HP
73
60%
Atk
76
51%
Def
75
57%
SpA
81
68%
SpD
100
86%
Spe
100
84%
TOTAL
505
73%

Last column: what percentage of 1084 species and regional forms have a lower value. Strong point: Sp. Def.

Sp. Def and Speed share first place here, so any nature that raises one of them will do. The list of natures shows what each one does.

Which nature to choose

Attack (76) and Sp. Atk (81) are nearly equal, so neither of these two stats can be lowered for free. The price has to be paid in defense — in the weaker one, because Defense does not stop anything here anyway.

  • Hasty +Spe · −Def A mixed set that does not intend to take any hits: all that matters is striking first.
  • Mild +SpA · −Def The same price, but the boost goes into the stronger of the two offensive stats.

A conclusion drawn from base stats alone — a specific moveset can reverse it. All 25 natures.

Regional numbers 13

The header shows the national number. Inside the game the Pokédex counts from the beginning — below is the number you will see in your version.

Kanto #038 Red/Green (Japan) , Blue (Japan) , Red / Blue , Yellow , FireRed / LeafGreen , Let's Go Pikachu / Eevee
Johto #126 Gold / Silver , Crystal
Johto #128 HeartGold / SoulSilver
Hoenn #154 Ruby / Sapphire , Emerald
Hoenn #161 Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire
Unova #249 Black 2 / White 2
Alola #254 Sun / Moon
Alola #331 Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon
Galar #069 Sword / Shield
Hisui #169 Legends: Arceus
Kitakami #038 Scarlet / Violet , Scarlet/Violet: The Teal Mask
Blueberry Academy #158 Scarlet / Violet , Scarlet/Violet: The Indigo Disk
Pokémon Champions #038 Champions

Abilities

  • Flash Fire Protects against fire moves. Once one has been blocked, the Pokémon's own Fire moves inflict 1.5× damage until it leaves battle.
  • Drought Summons strong sunlight that lasts indefinitely upon entering battle.

How players use it

Data from 44,274 ranked battles on Smogon (Gen 9 UU, 2026-07). These are not numbers from the game — they are player habits. Gen 9 UU is one tier lower: it is played without the Pokémon most often used in OU, so the same species hold completely different places here.

Rank 51 among 274 Pokémon in use — it is on 2.66% of teams.

Abilities Drought 100%
Tera Type Water 38.5% Steel 30.1% Grass 14% Ghost 8.1% Ground 5.5% Fire 2.8%
EV spreads Timid · 252 Spe / 248 HP / 8 SpA 29.1% Timid · 252 HP / 252 Spe / 4 SpA 20.6% Timid · 252 HP / 252 Spe / 4 SpD 15.6% Timid · 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD 11.7% Timid · 252 Spe / 248 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpD 6.8%

Each row is a separate distribution, not a single set: the most common item and the most common move do not have to appear on the same Pokémon.

Pokédex entry

Very smart and very vengeful. Grabbing one of its many tails could result in a 1000-year curse.

Habitat: Grassland Egg Group: Field Gender: 25% ♂ / 75% ♀ Catch difficulty: medium (75/255) Base friendship: 70/255 Base EXP: 177

Resistances and weaknesses

Type chart →

How much damage Ninetales takes when it is hit by a move of each type.

Weak to Water ×2 Ground ×2 Rock ×2
Resistant to Fire ×½ Grass ×½ Ice ×½ Bug ×½ Steel ×½ Fairy ×½

How it was drawn

1996–2019

The sprites come straight from the games in which Ninetales appeared — one from each release.

Gen 1 1996
Ninetales in Red / Blue
Red / Blue
Ninetales in Yellow
Yellow
Gen 2 1999
Ninetales in Gold
Gold
Ninetales in Silver
Silver
Ninetales in Crystal
Crystal
Gen 3 2002
Ninetales in Ruby / Sapphire
Ruby / Sapphire
Ninetales in Emerald
Emerald
Ninetales in FireRed / LeafGreen
FireRed / LeafGreen
Gen 4 2006
Ninetales in Diamond / Pearl
Diamond / Pearl
Ninetales in Platinum
Platinum
Ninetales in HeartGold / SoulSilver
HeartGold / SoulSilver
Gen 5 2010
Ninetales in Black / White
Black / White
Gen 6 2013
Ninetales in X / Y
X / Y
Ninetales in Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire
Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire
Gen 7 2016
Ninetales in Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon
Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon
Gen 8 2019
Ninetales in Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl
Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl

Variant gallery

The gallery shows only the appearance variants that exist for this Pokémon. Every image shows the same character and differs in source — a Pokémon HOME render or a pixel sprite — and in coloring, regular or shiny.

Ninetales — large render in its regular coloring
Pokémon HOME
Ninetales — large render in its shiny coloring
Pokémon HOME shiny
Ninetales — small pixel sprite in its shiny coloring
Shiny pixel sprite

TCG cards (39)

All Ninetales cards →

Ninetales has 39 cards in 28 sets. The oldest of them are shown below.

Offspring can come from 275 species from the same Egg Groups (with opposite genders) or from Ditto. Below are the first 12 by Pokédex number.

The Egg hatches after 20 cycles, which is roughly 5,400 steps. The exact cycle length depends on the game — newer titles shortened it noticeably — so treat this number as an order of magnitude, not a countdown. Having the Flame Body Ability in your party halves the wait.

Where to catch it (16)

All locations →

The levels shown are the widest range across all game versions — in a specific release it may be narrower. The exact area, catch method and chance are on the page of each location.

Galar

Kalos

Kanto

Unova

Below are the moves learned by leveling up. The rest (79 via TM/TR, 8 via Egg, 32 via tutor) are on the full list.

Lv. Move Type Cat. Power Acc. PP
1 Confuse Ray Ghost Status — 100% 10
1 Disable Normal Status — 100% 20
1 Ember Fire Special 40 100% 25
1 Fire Spin Fire Special 35 85% 15
1 Flamethrower Fire Special 90 100% 15
1 Grudge Ghost Status — — 5
1 Hypnosis Psychic Status — 60% 20
1 Imprison Psychic Status — — 10
1 Incinerate Fire Special 60 100% 15
1 Inferno Fire Special 100 50% 5
1 Quick Attack Normal Physical 40 100% 30
1 Roar Normal Status — — 20
1 Safeguard Normal Status — — 25
1 Spite Ghost Status — 100% 10
1 Tackle Normal Physical 40 100% 35
1 Tail Whip Normal Status — 100% 30
1 Will O Wisp Fire Status — 85% 15
9 Nasty Plot Dark Status — — 20
15 Flame Wheel Fire Physical 60 100% 25
21 Hex Ghost Special 65 100% 10
29 Extrasensory Psychic Special 80 100% 20
47 Fire Blast Fire Special 110 85% 5