The Gen 2 Pokemon Confirmed For Winds and Waves That Desperately Needs a Buff

Aside from the Pokemon Winds and Waves starters, a handful of returning Pokemon have been confirmed for Gen 10 as well. This includes critters showcased in the reveal trailer, such as:

• Pikachu
• Oddish
• Gloom
• Krabby
• Tangela
• Ledyba
• Ledian
• Slugma
• Corsola
• Taillow
• Wingull
• Wailmer
• Wailord
• Duskull
• Tropius
• Carnivine
• Lumineon
• Tympole
• Frillish
• Tynamo
• Mareanie
• Toxapex
• Sandygast
• Sizzlipede
• Nymble

Of these confirmed returning Pokemon, Ledian needs some love the most, as the Gen 2 critter has a history of being one of the worst mons in the series.

Related

Pokemon Winds and Waves’ Starters Already Have a Clear Winner

There is a clear candidate for best starter in Pokemon Winds and Waves emerging, even before details about gameplay have been officially revealed.

Ledian is Overdue for a Buff in Pokemon Winds and Waves

It’s forgivable if some Pokemon players have completely forgotten Ledian’s existence, as the Bug-type critter has never really made a splash in any game it’s been featured in. Debuting in Gen 2 as a Pokemon Silver exclusive, its pre-evolution, Ledyba, can be found early on Route 30, which connects Cherrygrove City to Violet City. Despite evolving fairly soon at level 18, Ledian is hardly worth using in a playthrough, since it is weak to Falkner’s Flying types in the first Gym, and quickly gets outclassed by other Bug types like Heracross later on.

What Makes Ledian Such a Historically Bad Pokemon

Even outside of Gen 2, Ledian remains an incredibly underpowered creature. It has pathetic stats for a full-evolved Pokemon, with a Base Stat Total of only 390. Not only are these stats incredibly low, but Ledian also can’t even fully take advantage of its best stats in Gen 2, since before the Physical/Special Split, Bug was a Physical type, meaning Ledian could only deal damage with a pitiful 35 base Attack. Things aren’t much better after the Physical/Special split in Gen 4 either, with Ledian’s preferred Offensive stat still only being a base 55 Special Attack and an incredibly frail Defensive stat of only 55.

How Pokemon Winds and Waves Can Improve Ledian

Image via The Pokemon Company

It’s clear that something needs to change for Ledian to be a worthwhile team member going into Gen 10. Pokemon Winds and Waves has a few options to choose from when it comes to giving Ledian a buff, and there is precedent for a new generation to adopt each one of these potential changes for mons in the past. Ledian wouldn’t necessarily need all of these changes to become viable, but some combination would definitely go a long way toward improving the critter.

A New Evolution for Ledian

First and foremost, the most obvious way for Ledian to get a buff in Gen 10 is to give it a new evolution. Since the majority of the other Pokemon with a 390 BST are middle-stage evolutions, giving Ledian a third-stage evolution would be a natural progression. Past generations have given older Pokemon a third evolution to increase their viability, such as Kingambit in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Since Ariados is Ledian’s counterpart as a Pokemon Gold exclusive, Ariados could also get a new evolution as well to maintain this connection.

Improving Ledian’s Stats

An alternative to a new evolution for Ledian is simply an increase in its Base Stat Total, similar to what Ariados received in Gen 7. However, Ledian would likely need more than just a 10-point increase to make it viable, especially with how weak its Defensive stat is. Ideally, Ledian would get a boost to its Special Attack and Defense, bringing them up to 75 and 60, respectively. A 415 Base Stat Total may not seem like much, but it would make Ledian’s STAB Special Attacks like Air Slash and Bug Buzz more potent while giving it a slightly better chance of surviving super-effective Physical moves.

Related

Pokemon Winds and Waves DLC Titles Are Already Clear

Even though Pokemon Winds and Waves were just announced, future DLC for the games might already have their names nailed down based on past patterns.

Giving the Bug Type More Advantages

Rather than buffing Ledian specifically, Gen 10 could buff the entire Bug type to make it better as a whole. Right now, the Bug type is only super effective against Psychic and Dark, while being weak to Fire, Flying, and Rock types. To help balance Pokemon‘s 18 types, making Bug strong against the overpowered Fairy type would give all Bug-type Pokemon more utility, potentially making Ledian a more usable team member overall.

Including Ledian in the New “Majin” Mechanic

Image via Game Freak, Nintendo, The Pokemon Company

Although nothing concrete has been revealed about it yet, the new Gen 10 battle gimmick has been leaked to be called “Majin” and involves Pokemon gaining new weather-based forms. The Pokemon Winds and Waves trailer seems to be teasing this feature, but doesn’t do a great job of revealing just how it will function. If these Majin forms act like Mega Evolutions or Dynamax forms, then Ledian could be massively improved with one. A historically weak Pokemon like Mawile became completely broken in Gen 6 when it gained a Mega Evolution, so there is room for generational battle gimmicks to give underpowered mons a nice boost. Hopefully, this Majin battle mechanic will be revealed soon, along with some of the critters that will get to use it.

Systems

Released

2027

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer

•