BW130

← BW129 : The Pirates of Decolore!

Pokémon the Series: Black & White

BW131 : The Path That Leads to Goodbye! →

Butterfree and Me!

BW130   EP787 サトシとバタフリー！また会う日まで！！ Satoshi and Butterfree! Until the Day We Meet Again!!

First broadcast Japan June 13, 2013 United States September 14, 2013

English themes Opening It's Always You and Me Ending

Japanese themes Opening 夏めく坂道 Ending 手をつなごう

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 米村正二 Shōji Yonemura Storyboard 吉村文宏 Fumihiro Yoshimura Assistant director 竹内哲雄 Tetsuo Takeuchi Animation director 古瀬登 Noboru Furuse No additional credits are available at this time.

Screenshots on Filb.de Preview thread on BMGf Closed Original review thread on BMGf Dub review thread on BMGf

Butterfree and Me! (Japanese: サトシとバタフリー！また会う日まで！！ Satoshi and Butterfree! Until the Day We Meet Again!!) is the 130th episode of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, and the 787th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on June 13, 2013 and in the United States on September 14, 2013.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

Our heroes’ Decolore Island cruise continues, and the next exciting stop on their journey is Wayfarer Island! It’s a beautiful place that serves as a rest stop for all kinds of Pokémon during their migration. Ash, Iris, and Cilan head off to the mountains for some serious Pokémon-watching!

Their timing is perfect, and they get to watch a group of Metapod evolve into Butterfree and take wing! But after the Butterfree head off on their migration, a lone Caterpie emerges from the woods. It seems Caterpie wasn’t ready to evolve yet, and now it’s alone. Ash remembers that the first Pokémon he ever caught was a Caterpie, and he’s determined to help this one! But there’s a problem: Caterpie isn’t interested in doing much other than sleeping.

Ash reasons that a fully evolved Bug-type Pokémon might be able to help Caterpie evolve, so he sends his Leavanny out to battle it! But when Leavanny’s Energy Ball gives Caterpie a rude awakening, it runs off in a panic. Ash tracks it down and apologizes, and Caterpie decides to trust him. They spend the day climbing trees and playing in the forest. It’s special training, but it’s also fun! And Caterpie even rescues Ash with a well-timed String Shot when he loses his grip and falls.

Ash knows that Caterpie has to eat a lot before it can evolve, so he sets out to gather Oran Berries for his new friend. Unfortunately, they’ve wandered into an Ursaring’s territory, and the imposing Pokémon isn’t interested in sharing its Berries! Ash grabs Caterpie and runs, but when they come up against a dead end, Caterpie decides it’s time to battle. It proves itself to be a fierce fighter, driving off the bigger Pokémon before evolving into Metapod!

But suddenly they have a deadline—it seems another group of Butterfree will soon leave the island, and if Metapod wants to join them, it needs to evolve again, and fast! Special training kicks into high gear, as Ash puts Metapod through its paces, including a long run that leaves Cilan breathless. And then, their training is rudely interrupted by a new threat that swoops down from above—it’s Team Rocket, showing up yet again to steal Pikachu, and accidentally picking Metapod up in the process!

Jessie, James, and Meowth start to fly away in their balloon, but Ash leaps after them and manages to grab onto the side of the basket. As James’s Amoonguss pummels Ash with attacks, Metapod wiggles out of its restraints—and evolves into Butterfree just as Ash is forced to let go! Butterfree catches Ash and puts him down gently on the ground, then goes after the villains and sends them blasting off again!

As the sun rises, all the Butterfree get ready to depart, and Ash has to say goodbye to his friend. It’s a bittersweet moment, but Ash promises they’ll meet again someday as Butterfree joins the migration and heads off to a brand-new life!

Plot

Aboard a ship, Ash and his friends spot their next Decolore Islands stop of Wayfarer Island. Ash sees a flock of Swanna and scans them with his Pokédex. Porter explains that the island is a popular spot for migrating Pokémon to rest on their way to other places. Excited to see more migrating Pokémon, the group heads directly for the Pokémon Center. There, Nurse Joy tells them that they will find a lot of migrating Pokémon deep in the mountains, and she urges them to stay safe and sound on their adventure.

As they walk up towards the mountains, Ash is very excited to see what new Pokémon he can find, which Iris is all too familiar with. Suddenly they run into a patch of Metapod, which Ash scans with his Pokédex. Just as soon as the dex entry is finished, the Metapod start to evolve. Once the Butterfree start to emerge, Ash scans Butterfree with his Pokédex also. Cilan says that this is the first time he has seen a Butterfree while Iris marvels at their beautiful wings. Iris and Ash both notice that the Butterfree are about to begin their migration, and sure enough, they all take off. Ash even notices a second flock of Butterfree flying away from a different location. Everyone is in awe, with Cilan commenting that nature is showing it's delicious recipe for perfection.

Suddenly, a Caterpie emerges from the bushes, looking dazed. Ash scans this with his Pokédex also. Since Caterpie is destined to evolve into Metapod and then Butterfree, Iris, and Cilan deduce that it was not able to evolve with the rest and so it's alone. Seeing Caterpie takes Ash back to the Caterpie he himself once caught, evolved all the way into a Butterfree, and eventually released to live with his love. Ash and Pikachu discuss where Caterpie might be now, coming to the conclusion that he's happy with his new life. Ash talks to this Caterpie, trying to get it to evolve, but is frustrated that it's asleep. Suddenly, Ash gets a brainwave and runs back to the Pokémon Center, much to the surprise of Iris and Cilan.

At the Center, Ash makes a video call to Professor Oak but is surprised when Rotom answers. Oak scolds Rotom for playing with the videophone, but Rotom electrocutes him in retaliation. After checking that Oak is fine, Ash asks Oak for one of his Pokémon. Ash returns to find Caterpie still sleeping. He nudges it several times and it finally awakes. Ash then tells Caterpie that they should have a Pokémon battle, and calls out fellow Bug-type Leavanny to help Caterpie evolve. While Ash is ready to battle, Caterpie, however, falls back asleep. Ash decides to wake up Caterpie by telling Leavanny to use Energy Ball, but this scares Caterpie off. Iris notes that the only thing it's fast at is running away.

Even so, Ash is determined to help Caterpie and soon finds it sleeping in a nearby tree. Ash notes that he was ignoring Caterpie's feelings and says he wants to help it evolve and Caterpie agrees. The group takes Caterpie to a shrub of leaves to eat, however, instead of feeling energized, Caterpie falls asleep on a full stomach. Ash is frustrated that Caterpie went back to sleep again and they all decide to take a nap. Later, Caterpie wakes up, also waking Ash in the process. Ash decides it would be good for Caterpie to climb some trees. Caterpie then uses String Shot to glide across the forest. Iris and Ash follow suit using the tree vines. Cilan warns Ash to be careful, but then Ash loses his grip only to be saved by Caterpie's String Shot. Next, they all have some lunch and they eat some Berries found in the forest. When that is all done, it is sunset, and they decide to head back to the Pokémon Center. Leavanny decides to make Caterpie a leaf hood.

The next afternoon, the group finds a forest with a variety of Berries. Caterpie goes to eat some Oran Berries. Assuming they must be Caterpie's favorite food, the group decides to gather a bunch of Oran Berries. While picking berries, Ash notices some Pokémon claw marks on the trees and Iris explains that this is how some Pokémon mark their territory. The group soon comes face-to-face with a wild Ursaring and decides to flee the area. Caterpie, however, was too eating a berry to notice, so Ash leaps in to save it from Ursaring’s attacks. The group hides amongst the bushes, but they are soon spotted after Caterpie suddenly sneezes and shoots some string on Ursaring's back. They run again. But to stop Ursaring, Caterpie emits a strong smell from its antennae, but this only angers Ursaring more. Ursaring chases them to a dead-end cliff. Though Caterpie fights back and uses Tackle and then String Shot to stop Ursaring. Ursaring breaks free of the threads, but Pikachu uses Thunderbolt to defeat Ursaring, causing it to retreat. Iris and Cilan come to Ash's rescue and Ash thanks Caterpie. Suddenly, Caterpie evolves into Metapod and falls asleep.

That night, Iris informs Ash that another entire flock of Butterfree is approaching Wayfarer Island next week. Cilan tells Ash that if evolves it can go with them. Ash isn't sure because of how often Metapod sleeps. Metapod suddenly wakes up but is quick to refuse Ash’s suggestion that they work hard tomorrow.

The next morning, the group decides to go for a run and Metapod looks very determined. But above them, there is a flock of Butterfree and Ash notices that they are a week early, with Iris commenting that they must have got a strong tailwind. Cilan says that the Butterfree will leave the next day when the sun comes up, and Ash notices that Metapod is sleeping during this conversation.

Ash tells Metapod that it needs special training so Ash decides to do hurdles, the horseback, push-ups, and more running. This wasn't enough and after all this training Metapod still hasn't evolved. Suddenly, Team Rocket comes out of nowhere, only to snatch both Pikachu and Metapod. They quickly trap Pikachu in an electric-proof capsule but are unimpressed with their bonus capture of Metapod. Ash tries to chase them and manages to grab onto their balloon, so James has his Amoonguss use Body Slam to knock the twerp down. Before Team Rocket can succeed in their evil scheme, Metapod evolves into Butterfree and uses Confusion to help Ash to the ground safely. This makes Jessie angry and she sends out Woobat to combine his Air Slash with Amoonguss's Hidden Power. Though Butterfree dodges both and frees Pikachu from the capsule with Psybeam. Before Jessie, James, and Meowth can make one final attempt to succeed, their plan is thwarted as Ash commands Pikachu and Butterfree to combine both Psybeam and Thunderbolt to finish them for good, destroying their balloon and sending Team Rocket blasting off.

Now with the morning sun shining through, the Butterfree emerge from their slumber and prepare to continue their migration. Ash reminds his friend Butterfree that it is time to go, and while reluctant, it joins the others in flight. As the group bids their farewells to Butterfree, Ash gets upset that a second Butterfree leaves him. He tells Butterfree that it will do just fine and tells it not to nap otherwise it will lose the others. Iris asks whether Ash is crying, but he makes the excuse that it is a happy moment. Iris smiles and they all wave goodbye, resulting in Ash promising that he and Butterfree will see each other again.

Major events

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Iris
• Cilan
• Jessie
• James
• Professor Oak
• Nurse Joy
• Porter

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Butterfree

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Axew (Iris's)
• Caterpie (Ash's; flashback)
• Butterfree (Ash's; flashback)
• Leavanny (Ash's)
• Woobat (Jessie's)
• Amoonguss (James's)
• Audino (Nurse Joy's)
• Rotom (Professor Oak's)
• Butterfree (Pink Butterfree; flashback)
• Caterpie (evolves)
• Metapod (multiple; newly evolved; evolve)
• Butterfree (multiple; newly evolved)
• Ursaring
• Swanna (multiple)
• Swablu (multiple)
• Altaria (multiple)
• Swellow (multiple)

Trivia

The flashback to Bye Bye Butterfree, showing Ash's Butterfree alongside the Pink Butterfree

• Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster: Zweilous
• Ash and Iris narrate the preview for the next episode
• As of this episode, all of Ash's original six Pokémon (Pikachu, Butterfree, Pidgeot, Bulbasaur, Charizard, and Squirtle) have appeared in Pokémon the Series: Black & White, either in flashbacks or in person.
• While gender differences for Pokémon which debuted before the introduction of these differences have been acknowledged in the anime, this is not true for the Butterfree in this episode, all of which — including the Pink Butterfree, confirmed to be female — have no purple spots on their wings and thus appear to be male.
• This marks a rare instance of a Pokémon evolving twice in one episode. Coincidentally, the last time this happened was in Caterpie's Big Dilemma, 371 episodes earlier; the evolving Pokémon in this case was also a Caterpie.
• This is the only episode during Ash's travels through the Decolore Islands where he is seen rotating his Pokémon to and from his active party.
  • This is also the last time that Ash is seen rotating his team until The Road Most Traveled!, 435 episodes later.

Errors

• During several scenes throughout the episode, Ash's eyes are colored black instead of brown.
• When Ash and his friends witness the evolution of the Metapod swarm, Ash says that he has never before seen this many Metapod evolving at the same time, even though he has already witnessed a mass evolution of Metapod in Celebi: The Voice of the Forest.
• In one shot of Ash and his friends helping Caterpie, Caterpie's tail is colored green instead of yellow.
• When Ash is reading a magazine in the Pokémon Center, Pikachu's cheek pouch is colored pink instead of red.
• In the closeup of Ash and Metapod running to the cliff at night, Metapod is cut off several times.
• During the brief scene showing Team Rocket after their motto, the Meowth balloon's ears are cream-colored like its face, instead of black.
• In one scene, one of the video screens on the control panel of Team Rocket's balloon disappears.
• When Team Rocket is blasted off, Woobat and Amoonguss disappear.

• 

  Ash's eyes error

• 

  Meowth balloon error

• 

  Control panel error

• 

  Pikachu's cheek error

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		小智和巴大蝴！總有一天再見面!!
Danish		Butterfree og mig!
Dutch		Butterfree en ik!
Finnish		Butterfree ja minä!
European French		Papilusion et moi !
Greek		Το Butterfree κι Εγώ!
Italian		Io e Butterfree!
Korean		지우와 버터플! 다시 만날 날까지!
Norwegian		Butterfree og jeg!
Polish		Butterfree i ja!
Brazilian Portuguese		Butterfree e Eu!
Russian		Баттерфри и я!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Butterfree y yo!
	Spain	¡Butterfree y Yo!
Swedish		Butterfree och jag!
Thai		ซาโตชิ กับ บัตเตอร์ฟรี! จนกว่าจะถึงวันที่เราพบกันอีกครั้ง !!

← BW129 : The Pirates of Decolore!

Pokémon the Series: Black & White

BW131 : The Path That Leads to Goodbye! →

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.