Grab a Ninetales’ Tail and You Get a 1,000-Year Curse

Most Pokédex warnings are vague. Ninetales gets one of the few that is specific, actionable and comes with a duration.

The warning

Three claims in two sentences: it is intelligent, it holds grudges, and there is a specific physical action that triggers a specific consequence. This is not "it is said to bring misfortune" — it is closer to a sign on a fence.

And the number is not decorative. Silver states that its nine tails hold energy that could keep it alive for a thousand years, and Crystal repeats the lifespan. The curse lasts exactly as long as Ninetales does, which means it is not a punishment that outlives the creature. It is a grudge held personally, for the whole of its life.

Where it comes from

This is one of the most direct pieces of folklore borrowing in the series. The kitsune of Japanese tradition is a fox that gains tails with age and power, becomes near-immortal at nine, and is famous for both wisdom and revenge on people who wrong it. Ninetales is that, almost without alteration — the design does not adapt the myth so much as import it.

That entry pulls in a second direction and I find it the more interesting of the two. Nine saints, reincarnated together — so Ninetales is not simply a vengeful spirit. It is described as a fusion of holy people, which sits very oddly next to a creature that will curse you for a millennium over a rude touch.

Vulpix makes it stranger

Ninetales evolves from Vulpix, which is described as being born with one white tail that splits as it grows warmer and more mature. So the tails are earned over time, which means a Ninetales with nine of them has been around long enough to have them all — and the entries put that at centuries.

The practical upshot: the thing dozing by the fire in your party is quite possibly older than every city in the game, is described as extremely intelligent, and has one clearly documented trigger. The dex told you. It has been telling you for thirty years.