Vulpix shines anew as its sunny Alolan cousin sidles into the spotlight: a Community Day mashup of flame and frost, where flawless throws and new moves could spark the hunt.
What Community Day move does Vulpix’s evolution learn?
Vulpix evolving during the event learns Energy Ball (Ninetales) or Chilling Water (Alolan Ninetales). This move is granted if you evolve within the event window or up to a few hours afterward.
If you evolve Vulpix into Ninetales on Feb. 1 from 2-9 p.m. in your local time, it will learn the charged move Energy Ball. Evolving an Alolan Vulpix into an Alolan Ninetales will teach it Chilling Water.
If you miss out on evolving it during this period, you will likely be able to evolve it during a Community Day weekend event in December to get these moves. If you don’t want to wait, you can use an Elite TM to get the move.
How does Ninetales and Alolan Ninetales do in the meta?
Ninetales and Alolan Ninetales perform as niche picks in the meta, thriving on weather-boosted or sun-boosted performance and strong single-target damage. Their versatility shines in PvE raids and specific PvP formats where their rapid energy generation, reliable charged moves, and defensively solid typing can outlast tougher opponents. However, they struggle against fast, high-quick-damage metas and against opponents that punish predictability, so flexible movesets and timing are key.
Neither Ninetales are useful for raids or gyms, but they are quite good in Great and Ultra League PvP, with Alolan Ninetales’ new move actually helping it quite a lot.
For best effects, set up Alolan Ninetales with Powder Snow, Weather Ball, and Chilling Water. Regular Kantonian Ninetales is pretty good too, but you’ll want Ember, Weather Ball, and Overheat.
How do I make the most of Vulpix Community Day?
Plan your day around glowing spawns, use lures during peak hours, and prioritize evolving Alolan Vulpix with sun or fire-type moves to maximize shiny chances and XP gains while catching as many as possible to stock up on Ice and Fire-type candy for powerful evolutions.
The following bonuses will be active during Vulpix Community Day:
- Tripled XP for catching Pokémon
- Field Research that rewards Vulpix with special seasonal backgrounds
- Doubled candy for catching Pokémon
- Doubled chance for level 31 trainers to get XL candy from catching Pokémon
- Incense lasts three hours
- Lure Modules last one hour
- Vulpix special photobombs when taking snapshots
- One additional special trade
- Stardust cost halved for trading
That said, you should definitely pop a Lucky Egg and an Incense and try to nab some powerful Vulpix.
If you can Mega EvolveCharizard, Houndoom, Blaziken, or Camerupt, you’ll score additional Vulpix Candy per catch. Using Primal Reversion on Groudon will also yield a candy boost. If you want to boost the gains from Alolan Vulpix catches, you’ll want to Mega Evolve Glalie or Abomasnow. Sadly, there is no Pokémon to Mega Evolve that will net you bonuses from both types of Vulpix, but since they share candy anyway, it shouldn’t be too bad.
As mentioned before, new things are still continuing to be tested with Community Days. Vulpix Community Day keeps up the trend of Lure Modules offering bonus spawns. From 2-9 p.m. (yes, even after the Community Day technically ends) both Vulpix and Alolan Vulpix will spawn more frequently around placed lures, with a chance to have a special seasonal background. The increased shiny rate that is usually only available during the event will continue until 9 p.m. from Vulpix that spawn from lures, too.
Best movesets for Vulpix and Alolan Vulpix on Community Day
Here are the recommended Community Day movesets focused on evolutions (what you should actually build), plus quick notes on unevolved Vulpix/Alolan Vulpix.
Kanto Vulpix → Ninetales
Community Day exclusive move:
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Evolve during the event window to get Energy Ball (Grass charged move) on Ninetales.
Best overall PvP moveset (Great/Ultra League focus):
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Fast Move: Ember
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Charged Moves: Weather Ball (Fire) + Overheat
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Optional/change: Swap Overheat for Energy Ball if you specifically need surprise Grass coverage (for things like Swampert, Gastrodon, other Grounds/Waters).
How to prioritize:
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Build at least one Ninetales with Ember + Weather Ball (Fire) + Overheat as your default strong set.
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If you have extra good IVs, consider a second one with Energy Ball instead of Overheat for spicy coverage and surprise KOs in some matchups.
Alolan Vulpix → Alolan Ninetales
Community Day exclusive move:
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Evolve during the event to get Chilling Water (Water charged move, lowers opponent’s Attack by one stage).
Best PvP moveset (Great/Ultra League):
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Fast Move: Powder Snow
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Charged Moves:
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Core: Weather Ball (Ice)
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Flex: Dazzling Gleam or Chilling Water depending on role.
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Strong default build:
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Fast: Powder Snow
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Charged: Weather Ball (Ice) + Chilling Water
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This gives very fast spam plus debuff pressure and lets A-Ninetales threaten Fire, Rock, and Steel more than usual thanks to the Water coverage and Attack drops.
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Alternative build:
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Fast: Powder Snow
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Charged: Weather Ball (Ice) + Dazzling Gleam
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Better raw Fairy damage vs Dragons, Fighters, and Darks; less flexible into Steels/rocks than Chilling Water.
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If you can only build one:
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For PvP, prioritize Powder Snow + Weather Ball (Ice) + Chilling Water as your main Alolan Ninetales during Community Day.
Unevolved Vulpix and Alolan Vulpix
Their stats are low for serious PvP or raids, so they are mostly for:
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Little Cup formats (when allowed).
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Collecting shinies and good IVs to evolve.
General moves:
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Kanto Vulpix commonly runs Ember + Weather Ball (Fire) if available.
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Alolan Vulpix commonly runs Powder Snow + Weather Ball (Ice) in Little League formats.
Simple priority list for Community Day
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Evolve a good Kanto Ninetales with: Ember + Weather Ball (Fire) + Overheat; keep Energy Ball on a second copy if you can.
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Evolve at least one Alolan Ninetales with: Powder Snow + Weather Ball (Ice) + Chilling Water for debuff and coverage.
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If you
PvP viability of Ninetales with Energy Ball
Ninetales with Energy Ball is a solid but niche PvP tech rather than a new default, especially in Great League.
How good is Energy Ball Ninetales?
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Energy Ball gives Grass coverage against Waters, Grounds, and Rocks that normally wall Fire-types, letting Ninetales threaten things like Swampert, Rhyperior, and Gastrodon much more directly.
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On sims and rankings, Energy Ball is described as a “high energy coverage” move that’s viable but challenging, meaning it improves specific matchups but doesn’t push Ninetales to a top-tier, brainless pick.
Compared to Overheat/Solar Beam
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Overheat remains the go-to nuke: it hits much harder into neutral targets and can flip games with one shield call, but its self-debuff makes it risky and generally overkill versus many of the targets Energy Ball is meant to cover.
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Solar Beam used to be the main anti-Water/Ground/Rock choice; Energy Ball is cheaper and more consistent, making it a better coverage option for PvP even if its raw damage is lower.
When Energy Ball is worth it
Use Energy Ball if:
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Your meta or team struggles with bulky Waters/Grounds/Rocks (e.g., Swampert-heavy cups, regional formats where Gastrodon or Rhyperior are common). It gives Ninetales real play into its traditional checks instead of just hoping to land a Solar Beam.
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You like Shadow Ninetales: community analysis and gameplay showcases highlight Shadow with Energy Ball as especially strong because the extra attack makes that 90-damage Grass hit far scarier, turning some matchups from “soft pressure” into near one-shots.
When to stick with standard sets
Avoid Energy Ball as your only coverage move if:
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You mostly play open Great/Ultra League where neutral nukes (Overheat, Psyshock, Scorching Sands) give more consistent value across many matchups.
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Your team already covers Waters/Grounds/Rocks well; in that case, the lost neutral closing power from Overheat can hurt more than the extra coverage helps.
Practical recommendation
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Great League: Ember/Fire Spin + Weather Ball (Fire) + Overheat as your main, and build a second Ninetales with Energy Ball as a flexible anti-Water/Ground tech or for limited metas.
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Ultra League: Energy Ball is usable but still secondary; Overheat-based sets generally perform better overall, with Energy Ball reserved for formats where specific Ground/Water cores dominate.
If you tell me your exact league and team core, I can say whether Energy Ball is likely to improve your specific line or if you’re better off sticking with Overheat.
