Ash's Butterfree

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Ash's Butterfree
サトシのバタフリー Satoshi's Butterfree
Bag Poké Ball SV Sprite.png
File:Satoshi's Butterfree.jpg
Ash's Butterfree (left) with his mate as seen in Spurt!
Debuts in Ash Catches a Pokémon!
Caught at Viridian Forest
Evolves in Ash Catches a Pokémon!
Challenge of the Samurai
Gender Male
Ability Unknown
Released in Bye-Bye Butterfree
Current location Unknown
HOME010.png HOME011.png HOME012.png
This Pokémon spent less than 1 episode as Caterpie and 1 episode as Metapod.
Voice actor Japanese English
As Caterpie Rikako Aikawa
As Metapod Rikako Aikawa Eric Stuart
As Butterfree Rikako Aikawa

Ash's Butterfree (Japanese: サトシのバタフリー Satoshi's Butterfree) was the first wild Pokémon caught by Ash Ketchum in the Kanto region, and as well the first Pokémon Ash released. He is also the first fully evolved Pokémon Ash ever obtained. His voice actress in both Japanese and English is 愛河里花子 Rikako Aikawa. As a Metapod, his English voice actor is Eric Stuart.

History

First appearing in Ash Catches a Pokémon, he was the first wild Pokémon Ash caught when he threw a Poké Ball at a Caterpie he encountered in the Viridian Forest. Remarkably, he caught him without a Pokémon battle, which Misty attributed to Caterpie's weakness. Caterpie was quite fond of Misty, but, much to Caterpie's misfortune, she wanted nothing to do with him because he was a Bug-type Pokémon, which she fears. The night after he was captured, Caterpie and Ash's Pikachu talked to each other, and Caterpie revealed his desire to evolve into a Butterfree. He then became very sad, as if he was not sure he could do it, but Pikachu encouraged him. He fell asleep next to Misty, who screamed at him the next morning for this and hurt his feelings.

Caterpie was the first Pokémon Ash sent out against the next Pokémon he tried to capture, Pidgeotto. With a large disadvantage against the Flying-type Pokémon, he was beaten severely. Despite this, when Jessie, James, and Meowth appeared to attempt to steal Pikachu, Ash sent out his weakened Caterpie against them. They laughed, but Caterpie had the last laugh, taking down both James's Koffing and Jessie's Ekans by himself using String Shot and Tackle. Just as Misty was about to get over her fear and congratulate Caterpie on his victory, he evolved into Metapod, which bothered her even more.

In Challenge of the Samurai, Metapod was sent out in a battle against Samurai, and managed to defeat his Pinsir despite only being able to use Harden. Samurai decided to send his own Metapod out against Ash's; neither could attack, and both had to sit stationary and keep hardening. This was interrupted by a swarm of Beedrill that snatched Ash's Metapod away when he forgot to pick him up before running off. Ash felt guilty about this and became determined to get his Metapod back, finding him with a hive of Kakuna. The Team Rocket trio showed up and woke up the whole hive of Beedrill with their motto, giving Ash a chance to rescue his Metapod. He was unhappy with Ash, and he tried to make an excuse and claim he didn't abandon Metapod - however, when he tripped on a rock and dropped Metapod, he owned up to his mistake and swore to never leave his Pokémon behind again. Metapod was moved by this and, seeing a Beedrill about to attack Ash, leapt up and took the blow, breaking the Beedrill's stinger and getting a large gash in his shell. Metapod then evolved into Butterfree and stopped all the Beedrill with his Sleep Powder attack.

File:EP004 032.jpg
Ash and Metapod

While he was with him, Butterfree was a close companion of Ash's who fought in many battles, including his battle against Misty at the Cerulean Gym during The Water Flowers of Cerulean City. He was notable for his courage, willingly taking on any foe and often proving himself to be much stronger than expected. In Battle Aboard the St. Anne, Ash used him in a battle against a Gentleman with a Raticate, who afterwards asked to trade the Pokémon. Ash accepted, but found that Butterfree meant too much to him to keep the Raticate, and was so set on trading them back that he did it while the St. Anne was sinking, causing him and his friends to be trapped inside.

The last time Butterfree was seen or referenced to in the anime was in Bye-Bye Butterfree. At the start of this episode, Ash saw a large number of Butterfree flying around in the sky, and Brock told him that it was the Butterfree mating season. Ash realized that his Butterfree would probably want to have babies like the other Butterfree, and so he and his friends rented a hot air balloon and watched Butterfree mingle with the others. Despite Brock's encouragement for Butterfree to choose one belonging to a cute female trainer, Butterfree found his heart set on a pink Butterfree. He tried to impress the pink Butterfree with some fancy flying, only to be rejected with a slap in the face. Heartbroken, he flew into the woods below, followed by Ash and his friends who tried to encourage Butterfree, telling him to be assertive and tying a yellow ribbon around his neck to help him catch the pink Butterfree's eye. Butterfree tried a second time to impress the pink Butterfree with his Whirlwind and Tackle attacks, but this failed as well. Then, Team Rocket showed up in a helicopter and captured all the Butterfree but Ash's in a giant net. Butterfree pursued them, followed by Ash and friends in their hot air balloon, and they headed into a canyon where the Butterfree were stashed. They broke in and Ash battled Team Rocket while Butterfree used his Tackle against the cage the Butterfree were in, finally getting the attention of the pink Butterfree. He broke open the cage, and the Butterfree all flew free. Team Rocket tried a second time to capture all the Butterfree, only to be stopped by both Butterfree and Pikachu. Afterwards, the pink Butterfree approached Ash's Butterfree and the two paired up. The two departed as Ash watched in tears, remembering what the two had been through together and wishing his dear friend a fond farewell.

It is a common misconception that Butterfree die after mating. However, this comes from a mistranslation and there is nothing to stop Butterfree returning in the future.

Ash's Butterfree has since appeared in the tenth opening for the anime, Spurt!, along with his mate, the pink Butterfree. However, he did not return in any episodes aired with the opening.

Moves used

As Caterpie

As Metapod

As Butterfree

Trivia

  • Butterfree evolved the fastest out of all of the main characters' Pokémon in the anime, staying as a Caterpie for less than an entire episode before evolving into a Metapod, then further evolving into a Butterfree within one more episode.
  • In the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, the circumstances of Butterfree's evolutions were different; it evolved from a Caterpie to a Metapod seemingly at random while Ash was showing his Pokémon off to Misty, and then evolved into Butterfree during Ash's gym battle against her.
  • Like Butterfree Jessie's Dustox also fell in love with another Pokémon a shiny Dustox,she reluctantly released Dustox similar to Ash releasing Butterfree.

Related articles

For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Caterpie, Metapod, and Butterfree.