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What is your HM Slave?

2,473
Posts
13
Years
  • I dont really have them. I usually teach my starter Cut, I usually have a bird pokemon so he learns to Fly. I always have a water Pokemon so there go Surf, Dive, and possibly Waterfall. I do however have Pokemon like Geodude for Rock Smash and Strength, Flash and Waterfall, and they are usually the first thing I see in PC.
     

    Starry Windy

    Everything will be Daijoubu.
    9,307
    Posts
    11
    Years
  • I have a Zigzagoon which evolves into Linoone at some point afterwards for HM usages. I usually teach it Cut, Strength, Rock Smash (it was the HM before so it still counts) and Surf.
     

    Treetwig

    Banned for being awesome
    434
    Posts
    11
    Years
  • Mine is lairon which I got from wondertrade.Linoone is a good HM slave as well but I never used him in my playthrough.
     

    LyokoGirl5000

    Lyoko Princess
    426
    Posts
    14
    Years
  • I like to spread my HMs around so I don't end up with a HM Slave. Back when I was playing the story in Sapphire, my Lombre somehow ended up knowing four HM moves. I decided to keep Lombre's moveset to remind myself just how new I was to the game. That being said, the save file with Lombre in it has almost all the Pokemon in that existed at the time in the dex, so I'm not getting rid of it anytime soon.
     
    Last edited:
    256
    Posts
    10
    Years
    • Seen Feb 8, 2015
    I never intended on having an HM slave through my journey of Kalos but the Linoone that was on my team slowly became one...but considering he ended up being 15 levels higher than the Elite 4 by the end, my lil' Donny was highlighting my team with Surf, Rock Smash and Cut. Nowadays I'll occasionally take him out and have some Pokemon Amie time with him, for if he is a HM slave, he's the best one I've ever had.
    Also, Donny netted me roughly 8 Sun Stones before I got to the Elite 4 and provides me with Max Revives whenever I take him out. Best level 100 Linoone I ever had.
     

    Akiba

    [img]http://i.imgur.com/o3RYT4v.png[/img]
    4,262
    Posts
    13
    Years
  • I usually go with a Tropius. I can catch one relatively early, and it's great for Fly -- there isn't usually a good Pokemon that can fly and can also be caught early on. In Gen III, I end up putting Fly on my Salamence. In Gen V, it's Braviary. It's a shame that Rufflet is caught so late in the game.

    I never intended on having an HM slave through my journey of Kalos but the Linoone that was on my team slowly became one...but considering he ended up being 15 levels higher than the Elite 4 by the end, my lil' Donny was highlighting my team with Surf, Rock Smash and Cut. Nowadays I'll occasionally take him out and have some Pokemon Amie time with him, for if he is a HM slave, he's the best one I've ever had.
    Also, Donny netted me roughly 8 Sun Stones before I got to the Elite 4 and provides me with Max Revives whenever I take him out. Best level 100 Linoone I ever had.

    You made me cry ;-;
    So heartwarming
     
    66
    Posts
    10
    Years
    • Seen Aug 13, 2016
    I love Diggersby, but it's become apparent that he's my HM Slave. I taught it Surf, Cut and Dig (HM, but same use as a TM)
     
    41,411
    Posts
    17
    Years
  • Usually the normal-type rodents available in the beginning. Zigzagoon/Linoone in R/S/E, Bidoof/Bibarel in D/P/Pt, Diggersby in X/Y, and Sentret in G/S/C and HG/SS. In other games I just nab whatever I run into that can learn at least 2 HMs I'd need on my team. :')
     

    Astraea

    The Storm of Friendship
    2,107
    Posts
    10
    Years
  • I dont make HM slaves, I train all of my pokemon strong and I Use HMs like Surf, Cut and Flash as Useful attacks in My party pokemon!
     

    LetsPlayALoveGame

    Wielder of the Disco Stick
    144
    Posts
    10
    Years
    • Age 31
    • he/him
    • Texas
    • Seen Mar 9, 2023
    I currently have a small group of "utility" Pokemon that I use for different non-combat situations. I sort of gave them their own personalities and such like my actual team members. I've got "Three Fiddy", my general HM use Lapras, "Luwigi", my Ditto for breeding, "Bird is Word", my Talonflame for flying and egg hatching (partial joke because I refuse to use Talonflame competitively because it's unoriginal), "Trap Lord", my suction cups Malamar for fishing, and "Super Loud", my Gloom for Sweet Scent EV training.
     
    6,266
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  • In basically every single non-Nuzlocke playthrough of the Hoenn games i've done since Emerald, I would almost always use a Marill and slap Waterfall, Dive, Rock Smash and Strength onto it. The Sinnoh games would usually have me using Bibarel, and in HGSS i'd usually use some Water-type for Whirlpool and a Normal-type for Cut, Strength and the like. Or i'd usually throw Strength onto Ampharos when i'd use it. Not much difference on me.
     
    483
    Posts
    11
    Years
    • Seen Oct 2, 2020
    I've pretty much stopped using HM slaves, just because reusable TMs makes it so easy to rebuild a moveset. I just put whatever HM moves I need on whoever can afford to carry them in place of a TM move, then go to the unlearner when I get a chance and get it removed and put the TM move back.

    In Gen V, I generally put the early garbage moves, before I get to the unlearner, on a Patrat or Watchog. Later on, if I'm rotating through a lot of pokemon and don't want to have to bother keeping track of it, I have a Swanna with Surf and Fly so that I know I always have those moves with me. But if it's a fixed team, I've got them worked into the team's movesets somewhere instead.

    The last time I used actual HM slaves was in DPPt, and there I tended toward Bibarel more than anything else, though Aipom makes a pretty good early HM slave, since it learns Cut, Rock Smash and Strength and gets Pickup. Bibarel's easily the best though. With Tropius in Platinum, between the two of them they could carry every HM in the game. But since Tropius isn't in Diamond or Pearl, I had to make do, generally with that traded Chatot.

    In RSE, I used Zigzagoon/Linoone and Tropius for field moves and Wailord for water.

    And if I have a Geodude early on, I always put Rock Smash on it, but otherwise it's not an HM slave really.
     

    Noir

    Sir Lucious Left Foot
    119
    Posts
    11
    Years
  • The only time I'll use HM Slaves is when I'm doing some sort of challenge and need every single moveset to not screw up horribly. My go-to guys are usually Gyarados (HG/SS), Bibarel (D/P/Pt), Pelipper/Tropius (R/S/E) or the Marill line (everything). 5th gen onwards HMs have such little relevance that having a HM slave isn't even worth it, even in BW2. Luckily the HMs you're forced to used (Surf/Strength) are actually good moves so you lose nothing by sticking it on your water or normal mon :)
     
    3,869
    Posts
    10
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    • Seen Feb 5, 2023
    My HM slave varies between games. I'll capture whoever I can the quickest and whoever can learn the certain HM, it doesn't really matter to me. Unless I am doing a Challenge, I normally don't use HM slaves. On a normal playthrough I try to incorporate HMs through my team.
     
    959
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    11
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  • For Emerald, Zigzagoon was my HM slave of choice, since it can learn Cut, Surf, and Rock Smash. A Zigzagoon can be encountered very early into the game and is very easy to catch. On SoulSilver, I spread out HM moves within my team (Sudowoodo with Strength, Pidgeot with Fly) but I would keep a Rattata on my team just in case I need the convenience of Cut or Rock Smash.
     
    50,218
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    13
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  • I usually give the HM Slave role to the stereotypical early route Normal-type rodent, in the Sinnoh games I tended to use Bidoof/Bibarel a lot mainly to help me get past obstacles without having to waste moveslots on my main battlers for HMs. In 5th and 6th Gen I don't rely on them as often since there seems to be way less obstacles in those games.
     
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