Ledyba Movesets & Competitive Sets

Ledyba is adept at countering Fighting-types that lack a Rock-type move, such as Timburr, Croagunk, and most Mienfoo (discounting rare Stone Edge variants). Roost is used for instant recovery, allowing Ledyba to regain its health from passive damage. Encore is used to prevent the opponent from using Ledyba as setup bait. Reflect allows Ledyba to patch up its weaker Defense stat, and after the boost, it will only take an average of 20% from a Riolu's Crunch at +2. Bug Buzz, while weak with no investment, allows Ledyba to bypass Taunt and do mild damage to opponents. It also allows Ledyba to beat Timburr one-on-one most of the time. If the team already uses dual screens, Knock Off is a suitable replacement for Reflect, allowing Ledyba to remove the Eviolite many bulky Pokemon in Little Cup rely on. When using Reflect, one can opt to use a different EV spread of 196 HP / 196 Def / 36 SpA / 36 SpD with a Calm nature, trading one point in Defense for a point in Special Attack. When running Ledyba, Rapid Spin support from Pokemon such as Staryu and Sandshrew is absolutely necessary to prevent Ledyba from losing 50% of its health when switching in. Hazard support from Pokemon such as Ferroseed is also useful due to the amount of switches Encore can cause. Other important teammates are useful to switch into Ledyba's common weaknesses. Steel-types such as Ferroseed can take the many Rock-, Flying-, and Ice-type attacks aimed at Ledyba, while Flash Fire Pokemon such as Houndour and Ponyta can take the multitude of Fire-type attacks aimed at it.

This is probably Ledyba's most famous set. It's a one-time use set, but Ledyba can rip holes through teams during that time. The magic of this set is Swarm, which raises Bug Buzz's Base Power to a fantastic 180 when Ledyba is at one-third of its HP. The best thing to do is switch Ledyba in on a Choice-locked Ground- or Fighting-type move. Ledyba will take little damage, or no damage thanks to its immunity to Ground, from these moves. Use this as a chance to use Agility. From there, just keep using Substitute until you activate Petaya Berry. Then, proceed to sweep. Bug Buzz is going to be Ledyba's main form of doing damage. Hidden Power Flying hits Fighting-types for super effective damage and gains STAB. It also hits Levitating Ghost-types. Hidden Power Ground hits Fire-, Electric-, Steel-, and Poison-types super effectively. Baton Pass can be used as a last ditch effort to pass Ledyba's boosts when you think Ledyba's time is done. Rapid Spin support isn't necessary for this set, but it is still recommended, so Squirtle and Baltoy are great teammates. However, Stealth Rock and dual screens support are a huge help. Lead Kabuto and Phanpy are two excellent Stealth Rock users to use on a team with Ledyba. Bronzor is also a fine choice, since it can support Ledyba with both Stealth Rock and dual screens. Heatproof Bronzor can actually prove useful with Ledyba, since it will lure in Ground-type moves for Ledyba to take advantages of. Dual screening Electric-types, like Mareep, are good teammates as well, since they draw in Electric-type moves like honey to ants. If you are running Baton Pass, having a special sweeper that can take advantage of the Petaya boost is always nice. Houndour and Gastly are two great examples.

This set is very similar to Baton Pass Gligar. The only main difference is Ledyba can use Encore, which is a huge benefit. Come in on someone like Bronzor or Omanyte, and Encore Stealth Rock and Spikes respectively. Ledyba is also a good choice to come in on Paras, since it resists both of its STABs and Early Bird lets it absorb sleep. From there, you can either set up a Substitute, or you can immediately start using Agility or Swords Dance. Bug Buzz can be used as a way to make Wynaut much more wary about coming in and using Encore, although Ledyba can Baton Pass right out of there. Liechi Berry is useful if you are running Agility, since it allows Ledyba to Baton Pass Attack as well as Speed. Petaya Berry also works well with Agility. Salac Berry works best if you are passing Swords Dance, not only because you get to pass Speed, but because Ledyba isn't exactly lightning fast. All three items work best when combined with Substitute, though. If you are running Bug Buzz over Substitute, then Oran Berry can be used to increase Ledyba's chances of pulling off a successful Baton Pass. Ledyba can Baton Pass to just about anything in the metagame. Honestly, the only limit of Baton Pass receivers is your imagination. However, Numel and Bidoof get a special mention, since they have the Simple ability. This can turn them into extremely potent sweepers very quickly. Cubone with Thick Club also appreciates an Agility being passed to it. Elekid, who already has high Speed, appreciates a Swords Dance being passed to it. Ledyba is also a good choice for a Baton Pass Chain, thanks to Encore. Ledyba does appreciate having Rapid Spin support. Squirtle and Baltoy make excellent teammates for Ledyba because of this.

Ledyba is an excellent user of Light Screen and Reflect. Ledyba's main selling point as a dual screener is that it can use U-turn to escape from Wynaut's Shadow Tag. This alone gives Ledyba an edge over other dual screeners. Encore is useful against Pokemon like Bronzor and Omanyte using Stealth Rock, allowing Ledyba time to set up Light Screen and Reflect. Roost is helpful if you are running Light Clay, since it gives Ledyba a form of recovery. It is also great when you consider that Ledyba's 50% of its Hit Points upon each switch-in thanks to Stealth Rock. Oran Berry is almost always the way to go, considering Ledyba's weakness to Stealth Rock. However, Light Clay is certainly an option, giving your sweepers a better chance to set up. As expected, Ledyba really needs Rapid Spin support to shine. Squirtle and Baltoy are the best options, since Squirtle covers Ledyba's Ice- and Fire-type weaknesses, while Baltoy deals with its Electric- and Rock-type weaknesses. Kabuto can also work, considering Ledyba covers Kabuto's Fighting- and Ground-type weaknesses extremely well. A Ghost-type is also useful, since it can come in on Counter just in case Wynaut uses it when Ledyba U-turns. Setup sweepers are the teammates you want for this set. Nasty Plot Houndour is easily the best choice. Ledyba covers two of Houndour's weaknesses with ease, while Houndour can use Fire-type moves aimed at Ledyba as a way to activate Flash Fire. Dratini can come in on Electric- and Fire-type moves and use Dragon Dance. Larvitar and Aron can easily switch in on Rock-type moves and use Rock Polish. Agility Chinchou and Swords Dance Totodile also greatly appreciate dual screens, so they are great teammates as well. Swords Dance Anorith may share a Rock-type weakness with Ledyba, but the sheer power of it under screens makes it a good option. With Light Screen up, Rain Dance Mantyke shrugs off any non-Electric-type special move.

Even with Ledyba's pathetic base 20 Attack, Ledyba can be a decent Swords Dance sweeper with a movepool that is slightly better than the average Bug-type's. Bug Bite is going to be your main form of STAB. In Little Cup, Bug Bite is a fantastic move, since it allows you to heal using your opponents' Oran Berries. Mach Punch provides Ledyba with good coverage and a form of priority. The last moveslot is pretty much your preference. Aerial Ace gets STAB, and combined with Bug Bite and Mach Punch, hits everything in Little Cup for at least neutral damage. Ice Punch is useful against Flying- and Ground-types, especially Gligar. Thunder Punch hits Mantyke for an OHKO, and hits Water- and Flying-types hard. Baton Pass also gets small mention, since it allows Ledyba to get out of there when something like Phanpy comes in while passing the Swords Dance. Ledyba has poor Attack, so Life Orb is recommended above all other items. Oran Berry is still an option due to Ledyba's horrible Stealth Rock weakness. Jolly nature is suggested over Adamant since Ledyba has only average Speed, and Swords Dance boosts its Attack. Adamant is still a viable option, since Mach Punch does somewhat make up for Ledyba's Speed. Rapid Spin support is an absolute must for this set if you are running Life Orb. Baltoy is your best option, since it can Rapid Spin as well as set up Stealth Rock, which all offensive Pokemon adore. Baltoy can also run dual screens, which makes setting up Swords Dance much easier for Ledyba. Squirtle is also a good partner for Ledyba, as is Kabuto. Kabuto also gets the benefit of being able to support Ledyba with Stealth Rock. Phanpy is a big problem for this set due to Ice Shard and its physical bulk. Bulky Water-types like Slowpoke and the previously mentioned Squirtle can be big assets to Ledyba.