The core of Pokémon’s fantasy was inspired by bug catching, so it only makes sense to have a whole bunch of funny little bugs. The fact that Bug is defined as a unique elemental type in Pokemon is honestly such a phenomenally unique and interesting design choice that by itself I think goes underappreciated. There are some genuinely phenomenal Bug designs later in the series, but firstly we start simple. Really simple. Caterpie is a very plain cartoon caterpillar design with very little going on. It’s cute, serviceable, and one half of a very nice and intuitive evolution tutorial, but aside from being a sweet little lad it’s not a particularly interesting design.

Metapod is a cocoon. It’s truly one of the Pokemon of all time. As a gimmick and an evolution tutorial it succeeds at its job, and Harden is funny, but there’s not much to say here. It’s thoroughly inoffensive and has a quaint charm to it at least. There are quite a few more interesting takes on cocoon stages for later Bug Pokemon which leave Metapod feeling somewhat lacking in comparison, but this is definitely a Pokemon that’s hard to really criticise for being dull when it’s a 3 level stopgap before its final evolution.

Butterfree is a nice little purple butterfly design to finish off this evolution family, I like its eyes and general design though it’s not really one of the Bugs that leaves a particularly lasting impression. Regardless it’s still a classic and one of the better Kanto early game designs. I really wish I had much more to say about it. Its colour scheme of purple with blue and red contrasting features is really nice, I like its distinct red eyes a fair bit, and its wing patterns are pleasing to the eye. It was also nice and somewhat amusing to see it become decently viable in early Gen 8 VGC as one of the Galar Pokedex’s better sleep abusers and Pollen Puff support Pokemon? That one’s a reach but weirdly enough one of the first things that comes to mind when I think about Butterfree. Ultimately, I like it but it’s not a complicated Pokemon and in keeping with that I don’t have particularly complicated thoughts about it.

Gigantamax Butterfree was simultaneously a nice surprise and very low hanging fruit as Gen 1 pandering goes. It’s nice to see a classic Pokemon get love when it hasn’t received much before, and I really like the vivid colours of Butterfree’s newly colossal wings, though as with many Gigantamax Pokemon there isn’t too much being iterated on here to talk about. Gigantamax Butterfree appears to be filling the niche of being Gigantamax’s equivalent to Mothra, but there are better Pokemon that have toyed with such inspiration before so the decision to do this for Butterfree, while pleasant, feels a little uninspired. Butterfree getting a rather unimportant Gigantamax in comparison to Beedrill’s far more impactful and transformative Mega Evolution does feel like a bit of a raw deal, but that’s much more a problem with Gigantamax as a mechanic.

Final Verdict – 6/10. Solid and foundational but doesn’t really do enough to stand out.