What is Butterfree weak to?

In Red & Blue, Butterfree's biggest threats include Golem (Rock), Charizard (Fire), and Raikou (Electric), all carrying super-effective STAB moves. Golem is the most dangerous since Rock moves deal 4x damage. Ice, Poison, and Flying-type attackers are also a problem. With 6 weakness types, most competitive teams carry at least one counter.

How do you evolve Butterfree?

In Red & Blue, Metapod evolves into Butterfree at level 10. Butterfree is the final evolution in a 3-stage line starting from Caterpie .

Should I use Butterfree?

Honestly, in Red & Blue Butterfree is a tough sell at 385 BST. Plenty of stronger Bug/Flying options exist. Fun pick, not a practical one.

In Red & Blue, Butterfree has a 385 base stat total and ranks as C-Tier: a niche pick in Red & Blue's meta. It works best as a balanced. Sleep Powder anchors the moveset.

What are Butterfree's strengths?

In Red & Blue, Bug/Flying typing gives Butterfree 4 resistances plus Ground immunity. Base 80 Sp. Atk is the standout stat. Dual typing means STAB coverage on both Bug and Flying moves.

Butterfree - Weakness, Evolution, Moveset, EVs & Stats

Physical

Balanced

CTier

70Speed · Below Avg

Stats & Training

Butterfree's spread isn't flashy. Special leads, Attack trails, 2 stats clear the bar. Tough to catch and worth 3 Special and Special stat exp, on a medium-fast 1M XP curve.

Base Stats

Avg

HP60

Attack45

Defense50

Sp. Atk80

Sp. Def80

Speed70

Total385

Details

Catch Rate

Challenging45 / 255

Growth Rate

Medium Fast1M XP

Height1.1 m

Weight32.0 kg

Base XP178

Abilities

Abilities were introduced in Generation III. Shown below for reference.

Compound Eyes

Increases moves' accuracy to 1.3×.

Tinted LensHA

Doubles damage inflicted with not-very-effective moves.

EV Yield

HPAtkDefSpA+2SpD+1Spe

Strong Special Attack training target

Pokedex Entries

In battle, it flaps its wings at high speed to release highly toxic dust into the air.

Butterfree Weakness

Butterfree is weak to Rock, Fire, Electric, Ice, Poison, and Flying. Watch out for Rock attacks, those deal 4x damage. On the flip side, it's immune to Ground-type moves entirely. Butterfree's special bulk (base 80 Special) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.

Butterfree Weakness and Resistance Chart
Damage	Types
4x (Critical)	Rock
2x (Weak)	Fire, Electric, Ice, Poison, Flying
0.5x (Resist)	Bug
0.25x (Resist)	Grass, Fighting
0x (Immune)	Ground

Type ChartFragile

6Weak

3Resist

1Immune

Score-6

Gen I Type Chart

Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split

4xCritical

Rock

2xWeak

Fire Electric Ice Poison Flying

½xResist

Bug

¼xResist

Grass Fighting

0xImmune

Ground

STAB (4)

Grass Poison Fighting Bug

How to Beat Butterfree in Red & Blue (Best Counters)

In Red & Blue, Cloyster can KO Butterfree with Explosion (114-134%). Jolteon threatens a KO with Thunderbolt (98-115%). Dragonite's Hyper Beam also KOs at 92-108%.

Cloyster WaterIce	A
Recommended Build Moves Explosion ClampSTAB BlizzardSTAB RestRecovery Damage vs Butterfree Explosion 114-134%KO Clamp 15-18% Blizzard 2x 97-114%KO View Cloyster builds →
Jolteon Electric	A
Recommended Build Moves ThunderboltSTAB Thunder Wave Double Kick Pin Missile Damage vs Butterfree Thunderbolt 2x 98-115%KO Pin Missile 4-5% View Jolteon builds →
Dragonite DragonFlying	B
Recommended Build Moves Wrap Hyper Beam Blizzard AgilitySetup Damage vs Butterfree Wrap 10-11% Hyper Beam 92-108%KO Blizzard 2x 74-87% View Dragonite builds →
Golem RockGround	B
Recommended Build Moves EarthquakeSTAB Explosion Rock Slide Body Slam Damage vs Butterfree Explosion 139-164%KO Rock Slide 4x 252-297%KO Body Slam 48-56% View Golem builds →
Charizard FireFlying	B
Recommended Build Moves Earthquake Fire Blast Swords Dance Hyper Beam Damage vs Butterfree Fire Blast 2x 118-139%KO Hyper Beam 62-73% View Charizard builds →

Red & Blue Evolution

Butterfree is the evolved form of Caterpie, reached at level 10. A Bug/Flying type at 385 stats that still can't breed. Evolving from Caterpie gave Butterfree the biggest boost in Special (+60), bringing the total to 385 stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

3 Forms

#010Caterpie

Level 7

#011Metapod

Level 10

#012Butterfree

Stat Comparison 3 Stages

Caterpie

Bug

Metapod

Bug

Butterfree

BugFlying

50+5

60+10

ATK

20-10

45+25

DEF

55+20

50-5

SP.ATK

25+5

90+65

SP.DEF

25+5

80+55

SPE

30-15

70+40

BST

195D-Tier

205D-Tier+10

395C-Tier+190

ROLE

Balanced

TYPE

Utility

Special

Breeding not available · Introduced in Gen 2

Red & Blue Butterfree Best Moveset

Best Build

Experimental

Utility

Ability

Not in Gen 1

Item

Not in Gen 1

Nature

Not in Gen 1

Utility Moveset

Sleep Powder
PsychicCoverage
Mega Drain
Stun Spore

Recommended Teammates

SnorlaxDecent

GolemDecent

BlastoiseDecent

Moves

TMs define Butterfree's movepool. The natural moves cover basics with Bug and Flying STAB, but the real versatility comes from technical machines giving it Psychic and Normal coverage. That's where the options open up.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1

Confusion

—5010025Psychic

Lv 12

Confusion

—5010025Psychic

Lv 15

Poison Powder

——7535Poison

Lv 16

Stun Spore

A—7530Grass

Lv 17

Sleep Powder

S—7515Grass

Lv 21

Supersonic

——5520Normal

Lv 26

Whirlwind-6

———20Normal

Lv 32

Psybeam

B6510020Psychic

TM Moves

TM34

Bide+1

———10Normal

TM32

Double Team

———15Normal

TM10

Double-Edge

D12010015Normal

TM15

Hyper Beam

C150905Normal

TM21

Mega Drain

S4010010Grass

TM31

Mimic

———10Normal

TM29

Psychic

S9010010Psychic

TM46

Psywave

——10015Psychic

TM20

Rage

—2010020Normal

TM02

Razor Wind

—8010010Normal

TM33

Reflect

B——20Psychic

TM44

Rest

C——10Psychic

TM22

Solar Beam

C12010010Grass

TM50

Substitute

B——10Normal

TM39

Swift

D60—20Normal

TM09

Take Down

—908520Normal

TM30

Teleport-6

———20Psychic

TM06

Toxic

C—9010Poison

TM04

Whirlwind-6

———20Normal

Egg Moves

Butterfree doesn't have any Egg moves

Tutor Moves

Butterfree can't learn any Tutor moves

How to Get Butterfree in Red & Blue

Can't catch Butterfree directly. Start with Caterpie at solid rates from the locations below, then evolve at level 10. The 3-stage chain from Caterpie to Butterfree is where the leveling time goes.

How to Obtain Butterfree in Red & Blue

To get Butterfree, start by catching Caterpie through walking encounters at Lv. 3-9. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.

Step 1Catch Caterpie
Viridian Forest
BlueGrass Lv.3-5 Forest
40%Early
Route 2
BlueGrass Lv.3-5 Route
20%Early
Route 24
BlueGrass Lv.7 Route
20%Early
Route 25
BlueGrass Lv.8 Route
20%Early
Viridian Forest
RedGrass Lv.3 Forest
5%Early
Route 25
RedGrass Lv.8 Route
5%Early
Train until Level 7
Step 2Catch or Evolve Metapod
Viridian Forest
BlueGrass Lv.4-6 Forest
40%Early
Route 24
BlueGrass Lv.8 Route
20%Early
Route 25
BlueGrass Lv.9 Route
20%Early
Viridian Forest
RedGrass Lv.4 Forest
5%Early
Route 25
RedGrass Lv.7 Route
5%Early
or evolve from Caterpie (Step 1)
Train until Level 10
Step 3Butterfree ✓

Butterfree Guide

In Red & Blue, Butterfree's biggest threats include Golem (Rock), Charizard (Fire), and Raikou (Electric), all carrying super-effective STAB moves. Golem is the most dangerous since Rock moves deal 4x damage. Ice, Poison, and Flying-type attackers are also a problem. With 6 weakness types, most competitive teams carry at least one counter.
In Red & Blue, Metapod evolves into Butterfree at level 10. Butterfree is the final evolution in a 3-stage line starting from Caterpie.
Honestly, in Red & Blue Butterfree is a tough sell at 385 BST. Plenty of stronger Bug/Flying options exist. Fun pick, not a practical one.
In Red & Blue, Butterfree has a 385 base stat total and ranks as C-Tier: a niche pick in Red & Blue's meta. It works best as a balanced. Sleep Powder anchors the moveset.
In Red & Blue, Bug/Flying typing gives Butterfree 4 resistances plus Ground immunity. Base 80 Sp. Atk is the standout stat. Dual typing means STAB coverage on both Bug and Flying moves.

Game Availability

Butterfree first appeared in Red & Blue and spans 19 games across 10 generations. It later gained a Gigantamax form in Generation 8, adding new dimensions to its competitive identity.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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