Is Butterfree Good in Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee Playthrough?
Butterfree carries the early routes with decent Special Attack and puts in good work against Erika. Falls off after the fourth gym though, when everything starts hitting harder than Butterfree can survive. Replace it once stronger options show up.
Brock's team hits Butterfree's weaknesses hard.
Butterfree trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Lt. Surge's Pokemon outpace and outclass Butterfree here.
Butterfree resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Butterfree trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Butterfree has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Blaine's team hits Butterfree's weaknesses hard.
Butterfree has the type edge here and should clean up Giovanni's team.
Butterfree has the type edge here and should clean up Lorelei's team.
Butterfree has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Butterfree trades roughly evenly with Agatha's team.
Lance's team hits Butterfree's weaknesses hard.
Butterfree trades roughly evenly with Trace's team.
This is the Let's Go Pikachu team. In Let's Go Eevee, Trace brings Raichu Lv 57 in place of Jolteon Lv 57.
Catch Caterpie
Catch Caterpie on Route 2 (walking, Lv 3-4).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 3)
- LV 3NormalTacklePower 40Accuracy 100%PP 35
How to Get Butterfree in Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee
You'll want early-game access before hunting Butterfree. Low spawn rates across 1 encounter spot means the location matters. Sort by Best below and target the top-rated area first.
1 location to catch Butterfree1 location to catch Metapod
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Catch Metapod at any of the 1 location below, then level it up to 10, and it evolves into Butterfree.
Where To Catch Butterfree in Let's Go
The path to Butterfree starts with Caterpie at Lv. 3+ via walking encounters. 3 catchable stages total, with locations listed for each one below.
How to Get Shiny Butterfree in Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee
In Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee, the strongest route to a Shiny Butterfree is Catch Combo, which reaches about 1 in 274 at full boosts. Pick a method and tune your setup below to see live odds. Compare Shiny Butterfree odds across every game
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee Shiny Butterfree Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Catch Combo at full boosts, about 1 in 274 on each try. Tune it below.
Catch Combo: Catch one species back-to-back. A Lure stacks on top of a 31-plus combo.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters |
|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 29 |
| 25%one in four | 79 |
| 50%coin flip | 190 |
| 90%very likely | 630 |
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
Want exact numbers for your session? Calculate your shiny odds in Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee with Butterfree preloaded.
Butterfree Weakness
Butterfree is weak to Rock, Fire, Electric, Ice, 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 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Rock |
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Electric, Ice, Flying |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Bug |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass, Fighting |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground |
What is Butterfree Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Butterfree
 Pikachu Electric | C | |
Obtain MethodPallet Town Gift Available Move Moves
Damage vs Butterfree View Pikachu builds →Thunder Shock 2x40-50% | ||
 Spearow Normal | C | |
 Pidgey Normal | D | |
Butterfree Evolutions
Butterfree is the final form in a three-stage chain from Caterpie through Metapod. Evolving from Caterpie gave Butterfree the biggest boost in Sp.Atk (+70), bringing the total to 395 stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Let's Go Butterfree Best Moveset
90 Sp. Atk at 70 Speed with Bug/Flying TermStab and access to MoveSleep Powder. Elsewhere, AbilityCompound Eyes pushes that to 97.5% accuracy, the one tool that made the moveset relevant. Here at base 75%, the miss rate turns a reliable strategy into a gamble.
Best Build
Caterpie Candy
Courage Candy+SPDModest raises Sp. Atk and lowers Attack. Madam Celadon sets this nature when you pick Blue, then Red. It costs 10,000 Pokedollars and lasts for the rest of the day.
Candy for Butterfree
Courage Candy L
Courage Candy XL
Smart Candy
Smart Candy L
Smart Candy XLCaterpie Candy raises every stat, but only Caterpie, Metapod and Butterfree can eat it. The stat candy that goes with Butterfree is Courage Candy (Sp. Def) and Smart Candy (Sp. Atk), and any Pokemon can eat it; Courage Candy L needs level 30, Courage Candy XL needs level 60, Smart Candy L needs level 30 and Smart Candy XL needs level 60 or higher.
Master Trainer
Bobby battles with one level 75 Butterfree that knows Quiver Dance, Sleep Powder and Air Slash. It takes extra damage from Rock, Fire, Electric, Ice and Flying moves. Win to earn the Butterfree Master title. Find Bobby on Route 2.
Moves List
TMs define Butterfree's movepool. The natural moves cover basics with Bug Buzz and Air Slash, but the real versatility comes from technical machines giving it Psychic and Normal coverage and more. That's where the options open up.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
All 16 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Its wings, covered with poisonous powder, repel water. This allows it to fly in the rain.
Game Availability
Butterfree first appeared in Red & Blue and spans 19 games across 9 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
- Gen 1RBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwShGigantamax
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
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