Flash

While the move Flash can lower an opponent's Accuracy in battle, its main use comes outside battle from Gen 1 through to Gen 6, until its usefulness outside battle was taken away from Gen 7 onwards.

Between Gen 1 and Gen 5, using Flash would illuminate a dark cave, letting you move around easier. Flash was a HM between Gen 1 and Gen 3 before converting to a TM from Gen 4, but it still had the same effect for the first five generations. In X and Y however, using Flash in a cave will instead zoom the camera out and lower the encounter rate, but in ORAS Flash returns to its original functionality outside battle.

What are your thoughts on Flash? I've never been too keen on Flash, and if possible I've tried to move through caves without having to teach it to a Pokémon. It certainly isn't a great move to use in battle in the Gen 1-3 games since it has only 70% Accuracy.

i never really cared for it beyond its obligatory use in certain caves. it's completely useless in battle considering that double team is more useful if you really want a move that will cause your opponent to miss. overall, just not a move that i care about much.

FLASH! AAAAH-AAAH! SAVIOUR OF THE UNIVERSE!

I was glad when Flash got downgraded to TM status, tbh - it was never particularly useful. I learned to do without it after my first Red playthrough waaaaay back in the day, although that made it a bit more difficult to navigate when they changed the visibility window inside unlit caves in later games to that annoying little circle, rather than pitch-dark with an outline of walls like it used to be.

no no no
one of my least favorite HMs from the old days, I used to just get through dark caves without using it since I didn't like having it take up a slot, haha ...

I never used Flash, not even as an HM. I went through the caves on my own. I think the only time I actually used it was in Hoenn's Victory Road.

I put Flash on Umbreon once and it destroyed every gym leader. It was so tanky it could get -6 accuracy on any gym leader's ace Pokemon.

I figured out that I could just walk along the walls of a cave to progress because I was often too lazy to catch a random Pokemon to learn it and I sure as hell wasn't wasting a move slot for it.

Flash, bleh. Glad that's outdated now.

I also back in the day managed to navigate Mt. Silver without it as part of my grinding runs of beating up the E4 and Red. :V