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Vulpix is a small, quadruped, fox-like Pokémon. It has red-brown pelt with a cream-colored underbelly. It has brown eyes, large, pointed ears with dark brown insides, and a triangular dark brown nose. Its paws are slightly darker than the rest of its pelt and have light brown paw pads. On top of its head are three curled locks of orange fur with bangs, and it has six orange tails with curled tips. However, Vulpix is born with only a single, white tail. The tails grow hot as it approaches evolution.
Vulpix is capable of manipulating fire to such precision as to create floating wisps of flame. These wisps are sometimes mistaken for ghosts by humans, but Vulpix uses them to assist in catching prey. Inside its body is a flame that never goes out. When the temperature outside increases, it will expel flames from its mouths to prevent its body from overheating. Vulpix is known to feign injury to escape from opponents too powerful for it to defeat. Vulpix can be found most commonly in grassy plains.
In the Alola region, Vulpix has adapted to snowy mountain peak and developed a snowy white pelt. It has pale blue paws, blue eyes, and dark blue insides its ears. Its snout is more pronounced and pointed than that of non-Alolan Vulpix. The locks of hair on its head and its six tails are curlier and have a wispy appearance. Alolan Vulpix is believed to have arrived in the region at the same time as humans, but moved to the snow-capped mountain to avoid other Pokémon. It can be found in small packs, called skulks, that are led and protected by Ninetales. Alolan Vulpix can expel breath as cold as -58°F (-50°C), which is capable of freezing anything. While it is not suited to warmer environments, its tail can produce ice to lower the surrounding temperature if needed. An old, local name for this Pokémon is "Keokeo", referring to its white pelt.
A Vulpix appeared in Mewtwo Strikes Back, where it was cloned from Brock's Vulpix and participated in the battle between the original Pokémon and the cloned Pokémon. It reappeared in Mewtwo Returns.
A Vulpix appeared in Love, Pokémon Style, under the ownership of Macy. It is her main Pokémon, though Macy doesn't use it in battle. Vulpix found itself captured by Team Rocket, but it was soon rescued by Ash.
An Alolan Vulpix appeared in a flashback in Getting a Jump on the Competition!, under the ownership of Cerah. By the events of that episode, it had evolved into an Alolan Ninetales.
Minor appearances
A Vulpix appeared in the English-dubbed version of The Ultimate Test.
A Vulpix appeared in a fantasy in Mystery on a Deserted Island!, when Alexa was telling Ash and his friends that it belonged to a Pirate. It was revealed that after the pirate disappeared, Vulpix stayed on the island where the treasure was hidden with the other Pokémon. It was revealed to have evolved into Ninetales afterwards.
A Trainer's Vulpix appeared in Securing the Future!, where it joined the rest of Alola in showering Necrozma with light so it could return to its normal form.
Vulpix, Alola Form. The Fox Pokémon. An Ice type. Vulpix is covered in white fur and was discovered on Mount Lanakila. Its breath can reach a temperature of 60 below zero, freezing anything it touches. And that Vulpix? It's a Fire type. When carefully groomed, its six tails can be extremely beautiful.
Kiaraway, a Fire-type Pokémon Trainer, owns a female Vulpix. She is one of his most used Pokémon, first appearing with Cyndaquil in Vulpix and Cyndaquil. She is good friends with Coconut.
Flannery owns a Vulpix that debuted in Bravo, Vibrava. She used it to battle Shelly's Ludicolo. Although it ended up getting defeated, it managed to disable Ludicolo's main attack, Nature Power, by using Grudge just before fainting.
Both regular Vulpix and Alolan Vulpix appear as Pokémon summoned from the Poké Ball. They attack using Ember and Frost Breath, respectively, with the former move burning opposing fighters with pillars of fire, and the latter move freezing them. A regular Vulpix also appears as a Spirit.
At the time of its birth, Vulpix has one white tail. The tail separates into six if this Pokémon receives plenty of love from its Trainer. The six tails become magnificently curled.
Inside Vulpix's body burns a flame that never goes out. During the daytime, when the temperatures rise, this Pokémon releases flames from its mouth to prevent its body from growing too hot.
At the time of its birth, Vulpix has one white tail. The tail separates into six if this Pokémon receives plenty of love from its trainer. The six tails become magnificently curled.
Inside Vulpix's body burns a flame that never goes out. During the daytime, when the temperatures rise, this Pokémon releases flames from its mouth to prevent its body from growing too hot.
Vulpix can be seen as a parallel to Growlithe. Both are Generation I Pokémon that evolve once via a Fire Stone. Vulpix is exclusive to Pokémon Green, Blue, Silver, LeafGreen, and SoulSilver while Growlithe is to Red, Blue (Japan), Gold, FireRed, and HeartGold. Growlithe has a 75% chance of being male while Vulpix has a 75% of being female, they are both in the Field Egg Group, can have Flash Fire as their Ability, and are yellow when Shiny from Generation III on. Furthermore, both are based primarily on canine-like creatures of Japanese folklore: Vulpix from the kitsune, Growlithe from the shisa.
Alolan Vulpix can be seen as a parallel to Alolan Sandshrew. Both were initially introduced in Generation I and got Alola Forms in Pokémon Sun and Moon. Both Pokémon are Ice-type with Vulpix being exclusive to Sun and Sandshrew being exclusive to Moon. Furthermore, both Pokémon evolve when exposed to an Ice Stone.
Vulpix is the only Pokémon with a base stat total of 299.
Vulpix has the lowest base HP of all Fire-type Pokémon.
Alolan Vulpix is the only regional variant with a specific name — Keokeo.
Origin
Vulpix is based on a fox, particularly the kitsune of Japanese legend, which have many tails and can breathe fire. After living a long time, kitsune take on spirit forms, which may explain why Vulpix can learn Ghost-type moves.
Alolan Vulpix seems to be based on the Arctic fox.
Name origin
Vulpix is a combination of vulpes (Latin for fox) and six (referring to its six tails).
The Alolan name Keokeo comes from keʻokeʻo (Hawaiian for white).
Rokon may be a combination of 六 roku (six) and 恨 kon (grudge, from the curse that Ninetales, its evolution, may cast on its foes), kon kon (the sound foxes make), コンロ konro (gas stove), or ko, an alternate reading of 狐 kitsune (fox).
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.