This is At the Buzzer’s list of the top 25 Pokemon of all-time. We’re in the serious business zone now, counting down one by one until we reach the very best. For more information, click here or check out the Related Links down at the bottom of the post. Don’t forget to vote on how we did in the poll below!
Today’s Pokemon flaps its wings at high speed, releasing highly toxic dust into the air. Its wings, covered with poisonous powders, repel water. This allows it to fly in the rain. It collects honey every day. It rubs honey onto the hairs on its legs to carry it back to its nest.
25) Butterfree (1 vote, 100 points)
Chris: Butterfree is a puzzle wrapped in an enigma for me. He was one of my favorites on the anime, and he saved Ash’s butt on numerous occasions. But in the games? I don’t know, man.
Butterfree struggles with the same problems as most three-stage bug evolutions. He’s great to have early in the game, but his base stat total doesn’t hold up to most of the fully evolved Pokemon later on. Confusingly, he learns three different status effect moves at the same level — Poisonpowder, Stun Spore and Sleep Powder — but can only apply one of them at any given moment.
Still, the impracticality doesn’t matter to me that much. Butterfree was one of my favorite team members from my original Red playthrough, and while many similar Bugs have come and gone since, he might still be the best (although Vivillon is close).
Shaun: In the human world, insects can grow as large as a fist, and are sometimes poisonous. In the Pokemon world, insects are as big as you are, and can shatter your mind with a Psychic attack.
I think that’s what appealed to me about Butterfree so much. The whole fusion of Psychic and Bug spoke to my younger self. Easily the coolest looking Bug in the series (SUCK IT, VOLCARONA), Butterfree was a member of my original Red/Blue Team, which will forever go down in history as the favorite team I’ve ever had. It helped that Ash had him on his team and it was one of the series’ most interesting Pokemon.
Butterfree also has the distinction of being the only Pokemon ever to make me cry — when Ash left him behind because he found true butterfly love, it was heartbreaking. He was my favorite, and then all of a sudden he was gone forever…or until he became a snack for a large bird or something. The Pokemon world is brutal, man.
Finally, Butterfree will always resonate with me because he was the only Pokemon I ever owned a stuffed version of as a kid. In the day, Butterfree kicked ass, and at night, he was a snuggler. Little spoon, of course. Gave me butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer. Long live Butterfree.
Objection Network 