Tag: ninetales

Hey, Bill! Long time no see. I’ve got a question about my Zorua; my Zoroark recently had a cub and she was born blind. We’ve baby-proofed my apartment and more, so she’s not in any danger, but we’ve got another problem. Her dad’s a Ninetales, so she was born knowing Extrasensory; and she /loves/ using that to toss things that end up in her way. It’s handy, but you can imagine that can get a lil’ destructive. Got any ideas on how I could train her to use it with more control? Thanks!

Hello! It has been quite a while—excellent to see you!

Regarding your zorua, there’s a good chance you don’t have to, actually. If you still have her father, you also have a pokémon with experience with this sort of move who your zorua may trust. In other words, encourage your zorua’s father to teach her better self-control. Alternatively, if the father doesn’t wish to train his daughter, the mother might, as zoroark possess their own special abilities that they need both concentration and discipline to use effectively.

If neither parent is available to train your zorua, one thing you may wish to do is present her with one of the objects she’s tossed. Have her feel it, particularly if there’s any damage to it, to help her better understand that there are real consequences to her actions. This may sound harsh, but it’s the first step in teaching her the proper times she should use her abilities. After that, it’s a matter of rewarding her for holding back or for using her abilities in an appropriate manner and withholding rewards if she uses them inappropriately. Positive reinforcement is fairly universal, regardless of a pokémon’s abilities.

Best of luck!

Asking for a friend, the legend of the Ninetail’s curse, what, in theory, would one need to worry about happening assuming someone accidentally ran a wild Ninetail’s tail over with a bike? Other then a flamethrower to the face, my friend already got that. Many Thanks.

Well, rest assured that pulling or otherwise harming a ninetales’ tail does not, in fact, result in a thousand-year curse. It simply involves a Flamethrower to the face, as you’ve already noticed.

(I, too, only know this through the misadventures of a friend and not from personal experience.)

Vulpix and Ninetales

bills-pokedex:

Vulpix
The Fox Pokémon
Type: Fire
Official Registration #: 37
Entry: A small, fox-like pokémon known for its beautiful tails, of which it has six when fully grown. While young, this pokémon’s fire abilities are mediocre at best, and its strongest move, Fire Blast, is roughly as potent as a charmeleon’s Flamethrower. However, in rare cases, vulpix may be born with the passive ability Drought, which allows it to subconsciously call down intense sunlight to strengthen any fire-type move used in its presence. Incidentally, this small, fox-like creature shares the aforementioned ability with the legendary behemoth of the earth, Groudon, a beast known for nearly destroying the world beneath the unrelenting sunlight it called forth. …Which is to say that the pokémon world is a bizarre and terrifying thing sometimes.

Ninetales
The Fox Pokémon
Type: Fire
Official Registration #: 38
Entry: The evolved form of vulpix, via exposure to fire stone. The legend that a ninetales will lay a thousand-year curse on you if you touch one of its tails is exactly that: a legend and therefore not true. What is true, however, is the fact that ninetales are generally sensitive about their tails and will set you on fire if you so much as accidentally brush up against one.

Vulpix (Alola form)
The Fox Pokémon
Type: Ice
Official Registration #: 37
Entry: This adorable cousin to the common vulpix, known by native Alolans as keokeo, is popular in the region not only for its cute appearance but also its practicality. When the weather is warmer than it likes, Alolan vulpix will fan its cloud-like tails and create ice crystals from them, effectively serving as a living air conditioner for its immediate surroundings. However, although it may be tempting to venture into its native habitat on the slopes of Mount Lanakila to catch one, a trainer should be warned that this is a dangerous idea, largely because of the vulpix themselves. Attempting to catch an Alolan vulpix may incur the wrath of other vulpix (which typically freeze intruders solid) but also the ninetales that always lurks near vulpix kits (which will freeze intruders solid before throwing them off the mountain). On the positive side, if your goal was to catch a vulpix in order to cool yourself off on hot Alolan summer afternoons, at least you’ll have that.

Ninetales (Alola form)
The Fox Pokémon
Type: Ice/Fairy
Official Registration #: 38
Entry: The evolved form of Alolan vulpix, by exposure to ice stone. This beautiful Alolan cousin to the common ninetales was once worshipped by native Alolans due to its rarity, ethereal nature, and tendency to dwell only on the peak of Mount Lanakila, the tallest and most sacred site in all of Alola. To this day, it acts as a guardian of Mount Lanakila by guiding wayward souls down the snowy slopes … purely because that’s the only way to get them to leave faster. In other words, this is yet another pokémon after the author’s own heart.

Help! I think my Absol is becoming homicidal! A few weeks ago, he slaughtered an opponents Pichu in a battle. Since then, he’s done the same to 4 other Pokémon, and the other day he attacked another trainer. I love my Absol, but I don’t know how to stop this behavior. What do I do?

image
image

Please excuse the highlighting. We forgot to close our search after we located these asks. —LH

Pokémon are rarely (practically never) aggressive for no reason, especially if they previously weren’t, readers. Before anything, it’s imperative to figure out why your pokémon are suddenly displaying the behaviors you’ve described, then work to correct the problem from the root. Observe your pokémon to see if you can find any possible triggers. Communicate with them if you can. Consider taking them to a pokémon center to see if their changes in behavior have physiological roots or to receive more personalized care.

Without knowing that root cause, it’s difficult to offer advice, as each of the possible causes come with wildly different solutions, including avoiding certain situations or places (if your pokémon are precognitive, as absol may be—or if they’re simply reading emotions in the case of gardevoir or remembering past traumas in the above ninetales’s case), more rigorous training (if it’s a simple behavioral problem in one or more of the above cases), or even antibiotics or surgery (if the problem is physical in nature). Thus, all I can say is consult your local pokémon center for treatment options, but also, be vigilant in your observations and keep your pokémon’s poké balls on hand at all times. 

Lastly, of course, if your pokémon are suicidal, please also be as supportive as possible. Get them the help they need, yes, but also make sure they understand you care deeply for them and will do anything you can to help them.

Best of luck, everyone!

The post you did about the care of standard and Alolan Vulpixes was such an informative and great post! I was wondering if you would be able to give tips on caring for the standard and Alolan Ninetales as well. Thank you!

Thank you, anonymous, but I must admit I can’t quite offer that much more information on caring for either form of ninetales.

Consider it like this: there are two types of pokémon evolution. Category A is when a pokémon changes drastically, to the point where their bodies differ so greatly from their predecessor that it’s impossible to care for the two in exactly the same way. This would include pokémon such as octillery, dragonite, huntail and gorebyss, most bug-types that undergo a cocoon stage (as well as the larvitar and bagon families, for that matter), and so on and so forth.

Then you have Category B, which consists entirely of pokémon that undergo a change, certainly, but not enough of one that they require an entirely different set of needs. Most pokémon belong to this category, including ninetales.

That having been said, most of the tips you read about in the vulpix entry will also apply to ninetales, with a few minor changes here and there. For example, keep in mind that your ninetales will be larger and more powerful, so be sure to increase the amount of food and water it receives daily. Likewise, scale up your training methods (that is, increase both the intensity and duration of its exercises) to accommodate its new power levels. Keep an eye on Alolan ninetales as well, as its new fairy-typing may require exercises geared towards training its magical potential (that is, add meditation to its regimen). And above all else, set aside time to help your ninetales maintain its tails, but be careful when brushing, as ninetales tend to be sensitive in that area. The idea that they would curse you if you pull one is a myth, but they will use either Flamethrower or Ice Beam on you (or a similar move, anyway) if you pull too hard. This makes grooming especially tricky for owners of Alolan ninetales, as their cloud-like tails tangle easily and trap quite a bit of debris. Just … be careful, readers.

my gabite and my alolan ninetales used to get along fine but now gabite’s scared of him once he evolved D: i really don’t know what happened, whether it was because of the type change or something, but now, she (gabite) won’t go near him! please help!!

It’s possible that it’s the type change, anonymous, although you shouldn’t rule out a number of other possibilities.

Luckily, there’s a handy way of figuring out whether or not it is because of your ninetales’s type change. Have your gabite enter the room shortly after your ninetales leaves it. If she shivers, then she’s reacting to either the cold or residual fairy aura, and thus, it is, without a doubt, a problem with your ninetales’s type. While, yes, your vulpix, as an ice-type, may have triggered a slight drop in temperature of the air immediately surrounding his body before he evolved, keep in mind that ninetales are far stronger and possess a far more intense command over their native elements. As such, it wouldn’t surprise me if your gabite is only just now feeling discomfort or even abject fear of being around your ninetales.

If this is the case, then resolving it may be as simple as sitting down to talk with your gabite and help her acclimate to your ninetales (all while reassuring her that he is, at his heart, still the vulpix she befriended, of course). If it’s the cold that’s bothering her, then you may consider giving her a sweater to help her tolerate his abilities. Many independent artists online knit wonderful sweaters for pokémon in a number of designs, but if you’d prefer something a bit easier to come by, you may be able to find sweaters in your gabite’s size at the local pokémart. The latter aren’t normally sized to fit gabite (whereas sweaters by artists can be custom-created), so be sure to get a sweater for “medium-sized” pokémon.

As I’ve said earlier, however, this is just one possibility, and it’s certainly important to take into consideration other potential causes. For example, if your gabite looks more irritated or panicked than physically uncomfortable, there may have been an argument or even a fight between your ninetales and gabite when you weren’t looking. If that’s the case, then it’s important to serve as a mediator between them. Sit them down and try to communicate with them. Try to figure out how their differences started and work with them to repair the relationship between them. (Alolan ninetales can sometimes be mischievous, so bear that in mind as well.) Have them engage in team building exercises such as double battles in order to get closer. Ensure that you’re treating them as equally as possible to avoid making one or the other jealous.

The main thing is that it’s never a good idea to jump to the conclusion that your pokémon are rejecting each other due to a change in type after evolution. While that’s certainly a common problem, it’s not the only one. Be absolutely sure that it is the reason behind your team’s differences (through testing and observation) before attempting to treat the issue.

Best of luck, anonymous!