I occasionally get the idea to use a Ludicolo on my in-game teams. It's such a decent chap, with all the dancing, and the funny hat, and the goofy expression, and it's a three-stage evolution line, and generally it seems to promise a swell ol' time.
And then, just as I commit to making it a permanent member of my team, I remember that the idea of using Ludicolo is so much more attractive than the experience of using Ludicolo. Let me talk you through the absolute misery of catching the Lotad family early and using it in Gen III.
The Lotad phase is mercifully short, as you tend to catch Lotad at like level 6 and it evolves at 14. It quickly learns Absorb, which provides STAB early on. If you've picked the Fire starter you've got a pretty sweet deal already. Grass STAB before level 10 and a typing that promises Water STAB later, that's decent. It also has Astonish, a move that ... uhh, has never had any utility whatsoever.
However, if you've picked any of the other starters, you realize that Lotad is doing the same shtick, albeit not quite as well, as the Pokémon you were already using. Base 40 SpA isn't that hard-hitting, and the power of Absorb and Astonish is anything but fearsome (a base power of 20 and 30, respectively, woo hoo). But as mentioned already, Lotad evolves mercifully early. Already at level 14, you'll have a Lombre on your hands. And then ...
... Lombre isn't going to do much for you. If you didn't choose not to evolve the weakling Lotad for a few levels (that is, until level 43 in Gen III), you're stuck with Absorb as your main Grass STAB until ... *checks notes* ... until you come across a good Grass TM, three words that don't belong together in this generation. Yeah, it turns out Absorb is the only Grass-type move the Lotad family learns by level-up in Gen III, so you have to use TMs. For that, Giga Drain is your best bet -it's non-replenishable, its Base Power is 60, and it's on an optional route after the sixth Gym. Have fun. The Bullet Seed TM you receive right before Rustboro City is practically mandatory if you want a Grass-type move for the main game, but most of the time it won't be much better than Absorb. Its base power caps out at 50 this generation, and the average power is 30.
But Lotad is part Water too. Surely, it must learn plenty of Water-type STAB moves? Well, obviously, it is a good candidate for receiving the Surf HM, but by level-up, you'll have to wait for level 49 before Lombre learns Hydro Pump. That's the only damaging Water-type move learned by the Lotad family. It arrives around the level of the Elite Four, provided you haven't evolved Lombre yet. TMs to the rescue, then? Not until Surf (and later, Water Pulse and Waterfall, but both are weaker moves). Surf arrives well after the Rock and Fire-type Gyms, where it would have been useful, but at least you will have it in time for Tate&Liza. It means you won't have STAB when fighting Norman, though.
So what are your options? Early on, there's Nature Power - that is, unless you fight in tall grass (which makes it turn into the non-damaging Stun Spore) or in water (where it will turn into a Water-type move - STAB at last! - which will probably hit the opponent NVE, because it turns out that you primarily fight Water-type Pokémon in water). At some point, you can get a move to replace Astonish too. Fake Out arrives at level 19 (right before the 3rd Gym) and with a base power of 40, it will be your strongest move barring lucky Bullet Seed rolls. At 25, you learn Fury Swipes, with its imperfect accuracy and tendency not to chain when you need it to. Then Thief at 37 (at some point after the 6th Gym), which isn't STAB, but it is a reliable 40BP move at last. Although at this point, you probably have Surf, and possibly even Strength. All this of base 50/60 offenses, by the way. Lombre is not a very heavy hitter.
Having dragged around Lombre for this long, you might want to evolve it to get that swell, hatted duck you've dreamed of. First of all, you have to beat the seventh Gym, so you can use Dive. You'll need it to either collect Shards you can trade in, or head to the Abandoned Ship, to find a Water Stone. Ludicolo learns no moves by level-up, so if you choose to evolve Lombre now, you won't have Hydro Pump. However, it's questionable if Hydro Pump would serve you any better than Surf, so you might as well evolve already.
So yeah, the Lotad family is a bit of a slog. A lot of a slog, actually. It doesn't have the stats, it doesn't really have the STAB, and it struggles to scrape together a bare-bones moveset at all. There's a 2/3 chance its typing is redundant with your starter, and if it isn't, it won't really help much in patching up the Torchic family's shortcomings. Its typing leaves it with a weakness against the Tentacool and Wingull families on the high seas, and it doesn't have much in the way of a movepool to attack back, except Normal-moves that a lot of other 'mons in Hoenn can use with greater strength. Coverage moves are practically non-existent too, unless you're willing to shell out big for Ice Beam at the Mauville Game Corner (or use Rock Smash). In short, the Lombre phase is a never-ending nightmare. At least Ludicolo looks nice when you finally get there, but it takes an awful lot of patience not to ditch the lotus-duck-monkey somewhere long before then.
