Ash's Butterfree
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. Its voice actor in both Japanese and English is 愛河里花子 Rikako Aikawa.
History
First appearing in Ash Catches a Pokémon, it 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 it 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 it because it was a Bug-type Pokémon, which she fears. The night after it was captured, Caterpie and Ash's Pikachu talked to each other, and Caterpie revealed its desire to evolve into a Butterfree. It then became very sad, as if it was not sure it could do it, but Pikachu encouraged it. It fell asleep next to Misty, who screamed at it the next morning for this and hurt its 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, it 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 itself using String Shot and Tackle. Just as Misty was about to get over her fear and congratulate Caterpie on its victory, it 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 it up before running off. Ash felt guilty about this and became determined to get his Metapod back, finding it 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. It 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 its shell. Metapod then evolved into Butterfree and stopped all the Beedrill with its Sleep Powder attack.
While it 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. It was notable for its courage, willingly taking on any foe and often proving itself to be much stronger than expected. In Battle Aboard the St. Anne, Ash used it 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 its heart set on a pink Butterfree. It tried to impress the pink Butterfree with some fancy flying, only to be rejected with a slap in the face. Heartbroken, it flew into the woods below, followed by Ash and his friends who tried to encourage Butterfree, telling it to be assertive and tying a yellow ribbon around its neck to help it catch the pink Butterfree's eye. Butterfree tried a second time to impress the pink Butterfree with its 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 its Tackle against the cage the Butterfree were in, finally getting the attention of the pink Butterfree. It 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 its mate, the pink Butterfree. However, it did not return in any episodes aired with the opening.
Attacks used
As Caterpie
As Metapod
As Butterfree
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Caterpie, Metapod, or Butterfree.
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