Vulpix

Vulpix in the games: a Kanto fox with a snow-country twin

Vulpix is a small Fire type fox first found in Kanto, standing 0.6 meters tall. Its standard ability, Flash Fire, lets it absorb Fire-type moves and power up its own Fire attacks in return, and its hidden ability, Drought, turns the sunlight harsh when it enters battle. A Fire Stone evolves it into Ninetales.

Pokémon Sun and Moon introduced an Ice type regional form, Alolan Vulpix, a white-furred fox that lives on Alola's snowy mountain peaks. It has its own abilities (Snow Cloak, with Snow Warning as its hidden ability) and evolves into Alolan Ninetales with an Ice Stone rather than a Fire Stone. The two forms share a Pokédex number, but on cards Alolan Vulpix is printed under its own name.

Vulpix on cards: a Base Set common with three decades of reprints

Vulpix's first card is Base Set #68 from January 1999, a Common illustrated by Ken Sugimori. It has been reprinted steadily ever since: our catalog lists 51 Vulpix and Alolan Vulpix printings across 42 sets in ten eras, from WOTC through Scarlet & Violet to the Mega Evolution era. Gym Challenge's Brock's Vulpix (2000) is one of that set's Gym Leader's Pokémon cards, tying Vulpix to a specific Trainer rather than printing it on its own.

Most printings are plain Commons, drawn by illustrators including Ken Sugimori, Mitsuhiro Arita and TOKIYA. The exceptions stand out: Platinum (2009) included a shiny Vulpix, numbered SH6, as one of the set's three Shiny cards, drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita, and the 2025 Mega Evolution set gave the original Fire type Vulpix an Illustration rare (#138) by saino misaki.

Alolan Vulpix on cards: Shiny Vault to Secret Rare VSTAR

Alolan Vulpix's card history is shorter but denser with rare treatments. Hidden Fates put a Shiny rare Alolan Vulpix in its Shiny Vault subset in 2019, illustrated by Kouki Saitou. Silver Tempest followed in 2022 with an Ultra Rare Alolan Vulpix V drawn by 5ban Graphics and an Alolan Vulpix VSTAR by PLANETA Hiiragi, the latter a Secret Rare numbered above the set's card total.

Cards to know

• Vulpix (Base Set #68)

  Vulpix's first card, a 1999 Common illustrated by Ken Sugimori.

• Brock's Vulpix (Gym Challenge #37)

  One of Gym Challenge's Gym Leader's Pokémon cards, tying Vulpix to Brock.

• Vulpix (Platinum #SH6)

  One of Platinum's three Shiny cards, a shiny Vulpix drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita.

• Alolan Vulpix (Hidden Fates Shiny Vault #SV8)

  A Shiny rare printing of the Ice type Alolan form from the Shiny Vault subset.

• Alolan Vulpix VSTAR (Silver Tempest #197)

  A Secret Rare, numbered above Silver Tempest's set total.

• Vulpix (Mega Evolution #138)

  An Illustration rare printing of the original Fire type Vulpix from 2025.