Pokemon S01E21 Review: Leaving Your Home

Pokemon, Season 1, Episode 21: Bye Bye Butterfree

It's interesting what episodes affected you as a kid, and what episodes end up just being a huge shrug when you're older, yeah? I remembered really being sad at this episode, because, holy shit, Ash releases one of his Pokemon, never to see it in the future ever again, because he values Butterfree's happiness over his own Pokemon battle career. And the actual final scene of the episode is still pretty sentimental and melancholic, with Ash telling Butterfree to go find happiness with his new mate, all with flashbacks set to the theme song (both in the Japanese and English versions). I really have no problems with the actual release, which was handled pretty well, and is pretty sad... but the episodes leading up to this one hasn't really made Butterfree feel that integral as part of the team. After Butterfree's two focus episodes leading to his evolution, all we got for Butterfree is him getting beaten up (against Misty and against Sandshrew), as part of crowd shots (only in the previous episode, with most crowd battles featuring the starters) or traded away (the St. Anne episode). I kinda wished that Butterfree had been a bit more prominent in previous episodes to really make this feel like a gut punch.

The actual episode has Ash and company encounter a gigantic Butterfree swarm, and apparently this is the Butterfree mating season, where Butterfrees will mate and fly across the ocean to reproduce. There are lots of trainers releasing their Butterfrees into the wild via hot air balloons, and Ash's Butterfree gets smitten with a special pink one. And... and that's the real plot of the story, and like many other romance stories where the love interest is just a glorified plot device, it doesn't work particularly well. Not that Ash's Butterfree is a majorly developed character or anything, but Pinkyfree is even less of a character, just being a prize for Ash's Butterfree to fight for and impress. I do like how readily the romantic Misty, the never-give-up Ash and the horny Brock are ready to support Butterfree's romantic interests, though, which I thought was a fun bit.

Team Rocket then shows up with a helicopter and a big-ass net to capture the entire Butterfree swarm with a net, and our heroes chase them and eventually help to free the captured Butterfrees. It's a bit weird that none of the other trainers nearby do anything, even though the hot air balloons are still around. We do get a fun scene where Misty tells Ash to not use his other Pokemon since Butterfree wants to prove himself, and a fun scene where Ash, Misty and Brock do a parody of the Team Rocket motto.

Ash's Butterfree finally manages to free the assembled Buttefrees, impressing Pinkie, and we get one of the funniest "Team Rocket is blasting off again", with Butterfree launching Pikachu, who sticks on the helicopter windscreen and gets an increasingly evil-looking smile as Team Rocket freaks out and the scene cuts back and forth between Pikachu's cute face and Team Rocket's freaking out. That's fun.

Ultimately, though, after Team Rocket's driven away, we get the aforementioned parting scene and... and it's done pretty well, with Ash pulling off maturity pretty well, telling Butterfree to go off and be happy, and I do love the scenes of Ash with his hat covering his eyes as he's clearly struggling with conflicted emotion, before finally bidding his butterfly child good luck. It's a pretty sweet scene, and I just really wish that the rest of the episode it's attached to had a more melancholic and suitable plot other than Ash's Butterfree really, really wanting to get laid. Also considering that this is Butterfree's last hurrah, I also kinda wish that it did a bit more than just smashing the net and carry Pikachu to the helicopter. Still, considering how it really affected me as a kid, it's a pretty effective episode for the targeted audience. I'd say that future Pokemon releases would be a lot better-written, though.

Pokemon Index:

• Pokemon: Pikachu, Butterfree, Meowth, Persian (fantasy), Starmie
• Humans: Brock, Ash, Misty, Jessie, James, Giovanni (fantasy)

Assorted Notes:

• The first generation doesn't have the concept of Shiny Pokemon yet, and it's such a shame that seven generations later, we never had a shiny pink Butterfree ever. 
• The episode marks the debut of Meowth's Boss Fantasies, although this is a very, very tame one compared to what will come in the future.
• "Bye Bye [insert name of Pokemon]" is actually the in-game message that appears in both Japanese and English versions of the original games whenever you release a Pokemon. 
• For a while in the forseeable future, Ash's sixth slot will just sort of rotate between 'guest stars', until... is it until Snorlax that Ash gets a more permanent sixth member? I'm legitimately unsure, but that seems right.