Ludicolo

Where Groudon is the god of the land and Kyogre the god of the sea, Ludicolo is the god of the dance! Put him in a gym and watch him go! Defending? Attacking? Let’s not worry about such trivial matters and watch this pineapple-duck shake it!

Despite having the stellar type combination of Water and Grass, allowing it to doubly resist Water-type attacks and hit with STAB super effective damage, these advantages are lost on its base 173 attack stat. Its unique set of resistances and okay bulk can make it a nuisance to fight. Perhaps Ludicolo’s place really is just dancing it up in gyms.

Best PvE Offensive Moveset

• Razor Leaf should be paired with Solar Beam. This set is better than the Water-type set, allowing Ludicolo to excel in its niche as a Water-type counter.

• Leaf Storm and Solar Beam are almost identical in performance. 

• Energy Ball is quite slow and falls behind on paper. However, being a 2-bar move means it's more consistent. 

• Bubble should be paired with Hydro Pump. This set has an advantage against Fire-type Pokemon.

• Blizzard, Scald, and Ice Beam have no uses on an offensive Ludicolo.

Best PvE Defensive Moveset

• Bubble is preferred over Razor Leaf, offering greater energy gains and better coverage at a similar base power.

• Ice Beam is Ludicolo's best defensive charge move, featuring all of Blizzard's perks while costing half the energy.

• Scald is weaker and has less useful coverage, but it's still not a bad move on defense.

• Blizzard is generally better than Hydro Pump. While it is easier to dodge, it has significantly better coverage.

• Solar Beam is too slow and has too poor coverage to rate on defense.
• Energy Ball is even easier to dodge, despite being a 2-bar move. Still, it has value as a multi-bar Grass Type move.
• Leaf Storm is faster and generally better for defense, but being a 1-bar move is bad for defense. 

Razor Leaf takes advantage of STAB to deal large amounts of damage without worrying about being shielded. Unfortunately it also has the worst energy generation in the game. 

Ice Beam offers good coverage, and is almost mandatory due to its energy cost being significantly cheaper than the rest of Ludicolo's charge moves. Hydro Pump, Blizzard, and Solar Beam all demand incredible amounts of energy for their usage, which may be unrealistic due to Ludicolo's lack of significant energy gains. Any of these options could be viable (though Blizzard is somewhat redundant due to Ice Beam), but don't expect to use them often, if at all. Leaf Storm could be chosen as a last stand move, since its lesser energy cost makes it more accessible than other options but is riskier with its self-debuff. 

Some matchups might be favorable with Bubble, not only from a typing perspective, but also partly due to greater energy gains which are necessary for Ludicolo's costly charge moves. The addition of Energy Ball from the April 2020 rebalance improves Ludicolo's overall viability due to its other charge moves being incredibly costly (energy-wise). Leaf Storm could also be chosen for a stronger play when shields are limited or non-existent, as its extraordinary damage output is offset by its harsh self-debuff.