Ledyba is a version-exclusive Pokémon, not appearing in Gold. In Silver, it's available on Routes 30, 31, and 37 in Johto, as well as Route 2 in Kanto. In Crystal, in addition to those locations, it's also available on Route 36 and in the National Park. It's also a possible encounter from Headbutt on some routes. Ledian is available on Routes 37 in Johto and 2 in Kanto. Note: Ledyba and Ledian appear in tall grass only in the morning.
Ledyba is by far one of the best Johto Pokémon in existence... if the only factor accounted for was cuteness. Outside of that, Ledyba leaves much to be desired. For starters, outside of Hidden Power, Ledyba literally does not have access to a single STAB move in the whole game, level-up or by TM -- and yes, this includes Fury Cutter. The ladybug Pokémon cannot learn the bug type move Fury Cutter. Moreover, its typing leaves much to be desired: while a double resistance to Fighting sounds decent on paper, it really doesn't matter all that much since most threatening Fighting-types carry coverage moves which will destroy our ladybug friend. Sure, its double resistance to Grass is nice, making Ledian a decent counter to Meganium and friends, but so many other Pokémon can beat Meganium and do so much more. Thankfully, there is a silver lining for our super cute bug: while it does not have any STAB attacks, it can in fact learn Ice Punch and ThunderPunch. This fact, combined with its access to dual screens and a solid 105 base Sp Def, allows Ledian to be a decent check to several threatening Pokémon such as Chuck's Poliwrath and Rival's Meganium, as well as several otherwise extremely powerful Psychic-types throughout the game. This sets Ledyba far, far ahead of its neighbor Spinarak, which cannot even dream of doing any of this. Overall, Ledyba is definitely a mediocre 'mon, but it can still serve a purpose for your team.
Gym #1 - Falkner (Violet City, Flying-type): Nope, not a chance.
Gym #2 - Bugsy (Azalea Town, Bug-type): Ledyba technically resists Bug, but cannot do anything back to Scyther except fish for hax with Supersonic, which is a very unreliable strategy. Do it only if you really need to break Scyther's Fury Cutter streak. Take on the cocoons if you want, they're not hard.
Rival (Azalea Town): Ledyba can beat Bayleef one-on-one, but will probably be too weak to try to handle Croconaw. Quilava is a no-brainer, and because of your possible moveset, so is Gastly. Zubat will take too long.
Gym #3 - Whitney (Goldenrod City, Normal-type): Although Ledian will have access to its two elemental Punches by this point, it will still get manhandled by Miltank. Clefairy is more doable, providing it doesn't Metronome some strong Rock move.
Rival (Burned Tower): If you have gotten to level 24 by this point, you can set up a Light Screen or Reflect, making this battle substantially easier. Then, you can Ice Punch or ThunderPunch whatever is weak to either move, and duck if there's a Quilava in front of you.
Gym #4 - Morty (Ecruteak City, Ghost-type): This fight really is a coin flip, depending upon whatever the Hax Gods want to happen. Probably best to avoid it unless out of options. If you ARE out of options, bring Mint Berries and/or Awakenings, and never let Ledian fall victim to sleep moves, as Dream Eater and Nightmare may follow. On the other hand, Ledian does have a fairly fast Safeguard, which, if you pull it off right before Gengar comes out, can help another teammate take it down without the sleep coinflip.
Gym #5 - Chuck (Cianwood City, Fighting-type): Set up a Reflect against the Primeape and then a Light Screen against the Poliwrath; you have a good shot at winning if you are leveled enough, since DynamicPunch does very little damage to Ledian and Surf meets its great special bulk.
Gym #6 - Jasmine (Olivine City, Steel-type): Avoid this matchup. It's bad. Really bad.
Rocket Executive battle #1 (Team Rocket HQ): Since most of these 'mons have physical attacks, it is not wise for Ledian to try to fight them, even after a Reflect. Zubat's Wing Attack is nothing to sneeze at.
Rocket Executive battle #2 (Team Rocket HQ): Again, mostly physical hitters, though Arbok's physical attacks are actually not very strong and Ledian might win against it. Bear in mind, though, that Murkrow can Pursuit. Make sure your Ledian is at a high enough health level after beating Gloom, you'll need to take a tough hit on the switch.
Gym #7 - Pryce (Mahogany Town, Ice-type): Avoid this matchup. Everything has Ice coverage. Ledian HATES Ice.
Rocket Executive battle #3 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Again, Ledian struggles against physical attackers, so steer clear.
Rival (Goldenrod Underground): Ledian can potentially beat the Feraligatr here, but you'll have to think on your toes. The rest is nowhere near its league.
Rocket Executive battle #4 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Similar fight to the one in the HQ, but Vileplume is more problematic now, with STAB Acid. It's probably wise to not have Ledian fight at all, or defeat Arbok at most.
Rocket Executive battle #5 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Fire-type, physical wall, Fire-type. Yeah, not really Ledian's cup of tea.
Suicune (Bell Tower, Crystal only): Ledian walls BubbleBeam nicely, but the same cannot be said for Gust. Despite ThunderPunch, Suicune is likely stronger than it, and Ledian will need to keep Reflect up at all times and watch for crits.
Gym #8 - Clair (Blackthorn City, Dragon-type): Ice Punch will do okay damage against the Dragonairs, but Kingdra will probably OHKO you with Hyper Beam. Safeguard is very useful blocking Thunderwave from the Dragonairs, though, and it can set potentially set up screens for the benefit of a real counter.
Rival (Victory Road): Again, Ledian is a shaky check to Feraligatr, but you hopefully have something better equipped to handle the Gator by this point.
Elite Four Will (Indigo Plateau, Psychic-type): Light Screen does wonders here. You can beat everything but the Jynx, provided you don't fall victim to hax.
Elite Four Koga (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): Ledian has a very tough time here due to all the physical attackers; avoid this matchup.
Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): You can defeat the Hitmons with relative ease since none of them have any Rock-type moves, but don't even think about sending in Ledian against the Onix or Machamp.
Elite Four Karen (Indigo Plateau, Dark-type): Umbreon can tank your attacks like crazy. You can beat the Vileplume and Murkrow. Houndoom should be an obvious nope. The fight with Gengar will be long and will still have you at RNG's mercy thanks to the ghost's Destiny Bond.
Champion Lance (Indigo Plateau, Flying-type): You can ThunderPunch the Gyarados and Ice Punch the Dragonites, but unfortunately none of these attacks will likely OHKO unless you are around level 50. Ledian can tank any special hit from these guys, but will get destroyed by Hyper Beam. Avoid the Aerodactyl and Charizard.
Kanto[]
From this point onwards, you can fight the gyms in any order, though you will need to retrieve the Machine Parts from the Cerulean City gym before you have access to the earlier portion of Kanto. Feel free to anticipate or postpone any battles as needed.
Gym #9 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): Ledian should stay as far away as possible from this gym. Everything has Rock moves and can destroy it in a whim, even if it packs Giga Drain.
Rival (Mt. Moon, optional): Much like the previous fights, Feraligatr is a problem, and Typhlosion too. You should avoid Magneton unless you want a slow, painful fight. Ledian can absorb Alakazam's hits well, but only with Light Screen, as it takes Ledian some time to whittle down Alakazam's health. Don't fight Golbat. The rest is alright.
Gym #10 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): Apart from Lapras' Blizzard, and possibly Starmie's Ice Beam, this matchup is not too bad. ThunderPunch does Golduck in if it doesn't start spamming Amnesia, and Quagsire goes down to Ice Punch eventually.
Gym #11 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): Don't do this. Everything either has Electric STAB or Explosion which, even at a considerable level advantage (which you probably have), is threatening for such a frail Pokémon as Ledian. Even if you had Reflect up, they could still crit. Avoid.
Gym #12 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Despite the lack of both of its STABs, Ledian does well in this gym. Spam Ice Punch against everything, and you should win. Just keep watch on Victreebel's Acid.
Gym #13 - Janine (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): Janine's Pokémon are so underleveled it's funny even for Ledian. Use Ice Punch against Crobat, and whichever Punch is best for the rest of them. The Weezing do have Explosion, though. If you want to be completely safe, pick something else to fight them.
Gym #14 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): These are all special hitters, and Ledian has good special bulk. You can manage by setting up Light Screen and slowly wearing them down, healing as needed. Bring X Accuracy in case Espeon starts using Sand-Attack.
Gym #15 - Blaine (Seafoam Islands, Fire-type): No. Magcargo has Rock Slide and everything here sports Fire STAB.
Gym #16 - Blue (Viridian City): Pidgeot, Rhydon and Arcanine represent insurmountable problems for Ledian. Gyarados too, as it has Hyper Beam and will most likely not fall to a ThunderPunch. On the upside, Ledian walls both Exeggutor and Alakazam very well, though for Alakazam some PP restorers may be needed, since it has Recover.
Rival (Indigo Plateau, optional): Golbat has evolved and is more dangerous than ever, which is one more reason to avoid it. Again, Feraligatr and Typhlosion aren't the best, and you should only fight Magneton if you're particularly keen on making things more difficult for yourself. Go ahead with the rest.
Red (Mt. Silver): Ledian can only counter Venusaur, which has just Grass-type moves. You can potentially PP stall Espeon's Psychics with Light Screen + Hyper Potions, but you are just begging for a Sp Def drop and/or a crit. It is a similar case with Blastoise. Ledian flat-out loses to the Snorlax and Charizard. Becomes a magnificent counter to all of Red if you can get it in on Venusaur, though, since it can set up and Baton Pass Agility and Curse boosts.
Moves[]
Ledyba starts with Tackle. It gets Supersonic at level 8, which can help with damaging foes despite the low accuracy, and Comet Punch at level 15, which is much better than its starting move. It can then evolve into Ledian. The two notable level-up moves Ledian gets are Light Screen and Reflect, both acquired at level 22 by Ledyba and 24 by Ledian, both of which Ledian can use to stall out certain threats. Safeguard is available at that level too, though worthwhile only against a few select opponents. Agility and Baton Pass, for Ledian levels 51 and 33 respectively, may sound like a fun Ninjask-esque strategy, but really, you don't want to be wasting valuable turns boosting your already decent Speed. There's also Swift at level 42, but it comes too late to be useful, and same goes for Double-Edge at level 60.
Ice Punch and ThunderPunch are Ledian's bread and butter, as up until it gets it it will just be treading water. Finally, Giga Drain may be of some value against Red's Blastoise, but keep in mind that in this game Giga Drain only has 60 BP and 5 PP. Ledian has a handful of physical options too, but given its incredibly low Attack, they're just not worth it.
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Ledian's stats[]
Stat
Range
At Lv. 50
At Lv. 100
HP:
55
115 - 162
220 - 314
Attack:
35
36 - 95
67 - 185
Defense:
50
49 - 112
94 - 218
Sp.Atk:
55
54 - 117
103 - 229
Sp.Def:
110
103 - 178
202 - 350
Speed:
85
81 - 150
157 - 295
Total:
390
Other Pokémon with this total
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Ledyba Line Ratings
Availability
Matchups
Movepool
Survivability
Type Usefulness
Team Role
Offensive Utility
Defensive Utility
Tankiness
Fun Factor
Overall
At what point in the game should I be evolved? You definitely want to have a Ledian by the third rival fight in Burned Tower, if not by Whitney, which would be best.
How good is the Ledyba line in a Nuzlocke? Unfortunately, Ledyba is cursed with no STAB moves whatsoever, and thus struggles to dish out any sort of powerful attack, even super-effective ones. However, for what it's worth, Ledyba is probably the best early-game Bug-type due to access to the elemental punches and dual screens, eclipsing the likes of Caterpie, Weedle, Spinarak, and Venonat by a long shot. The Ledyba line has plenty of weaknesses and vulnerabilities, but it can still be a decent team member if you play to its strengths.
Weaknesses: Fire, Ice, Electric, Flying, Rock (x4)
