Bayleef Movesets & Competitive Sets

Bayleef's mono-Grass typing coupled with bulk that is comparable to Lileep make it an excellent contender for defensive roles. Hidden Power Grass allows Bayleef to threaten Ground- and Water-types such as Cubone, Rhyhorn, and Chinchou. Alternatively, Hidden Power Ground can be used to threaten Electric-types such as Elekid and Magnemite. However, Hidden Power Ground fails to break Cubone's Substitute and 2HKO Rhyhorn. Leech Seed allows Bayleef to punish Pokemon that may attempt to switch in such as Koffing and Dustox. Synthesis provides Bayleef with reliable recovery, allowing it to maintain its position as an effective wall for longer. Toxic prevents other walls, most notably Lileep, from taking advantage of Bayleef's passiveness. 34 Speed EVs allow Bayleef to outpace offensive Rhyhorn while maintaining its overall bulk. Bayleef excels on almost exclusively balance teams due to the competition it faces with Lileep. Pokemon that absorb Toxic such as Koffing, Grimer, and Staryu all pair well with Bayleef. Koffing is worth noting, as it can act as a secondary check to Aipom and a primary check to Rhyhorn, which would otherwise overwhelm Bayleef. Specially defensive Pokemon such as Castform and the previously mentioned Grimer pair well with Bayleef due to their ability to check Chinchou and Growlithe. Pokemon that can take Fire-type attacks such as Seaking, Chinchou, and Spoink make good partners. Physical wallbreakers such as Aipom, Cubone, and Delibird can all threaten Dustox, which otherwise takes advantage of Bayleef's passiveness. Bayleef pairs well with special wall breakers such as Elekid, Cyndaquil, and Staryu, as they can threaten Koffing.