Beauty for your eyes and ears

Ninetales is conceived of pretty much nothing but headcanon (which changes a lot, actually), which people have expressed interest in. So I have decided that I'll concoct a basic bullet list of important details on your elderly neighborhood fox.

➳ She was bred around 1000 years ago in a family of nobles. In this era of her world, pokemon were revered for their magics and powers of manipulation; the favored species tended to be pokemon like alakazam, dragonite, and other unfathomably intelligent creatures. Humans themselves were full of magic, and a majority of what ninetales knows in terms of communications and social order comes from what her masters taught her.

➳ Her family selected the foxes - ninetales and vulpix - as their patrons because they were not only known to be wise, but also cunning and clever. Her first master taught her the first thing all kitsune should know - how to possess a human being. By slipping through a woman's cleavage, Ninetales can take control of the body and access memories. But as this is an intrusive and brutal method, it only lasts so long before the body begins to adopt the persona of a fox, running on all fours and yipping rather than walking and speaking.

➳ When her second master was born, possession was no longer used for methods of extracting information or otherwise being deceitful. She became such a part of the family that she was called to share the dinner table with family and guests alike, partaking in conversation with the use of mental magics her master had taught her. It remained the common trend for her until the death of her fifth and final master, which had left no heir. Only servants remained.

➳ Leaving the servants behind on orders to guard the estate, she departed. She was later snared by a lord's trap, before being released. Grateful to him and seeing the honesty in his heart, she began to show her appreciation, blessing the man with magic. She disappeared, and returned two months later. She had learned a spell to transform herself into a breathtakingly beautiful woman, and won the man's heart. Though she did not necessarily love him - for once she bore a child for him, she saw no need to remain any longer in his presence. She departed, giving her 'son' a new name, the ability to speak to animals, and the magical blessings that she had learned. He became an onmyouji.

➳ Her role nearly done, she watched over the entirety of Nippon, witnessing its change and growth over hundreds of years. Her family dissolved as nobility became moot. Wars happened, revolutions, technology. Magic faded from the world, reserved for pokemon. Ninetales knew no other of her species that had not died in battle, or from injury or illness. No other patron pokemon existed. A dragonite had stubbornly attempted to survive, but it fell short some point after 600 years.

➳ Her family's tombs slowly began to shift, moving into Lavender Town. From her 792nd year onward, she stayed in the town, living peacefully by herself. (Of course, laying the occasional clutch of eggs and brightening up the town with lively pups. Why do you think there are so many vulpix on Route 8?) A dog tag was added to the ancient collar that she still wore, and rusted away from the ocean air blowing from the south by the 845th year. That year, she came to the island for the first time. She returned home soon afterwards.

➳ Now she lives in pokedressing once more. Finally, her 1000th year is drawing closer... Ninetales is eager to leave her old, aching body and transcend to a greater plane of existence.