• Hi all. We have had reports of member's signatures being edited to include malicious content. You can rest assured this wasn't done by staff and we can find no indication that the forums themselves have been compromised.

    However, remember to keep your passwords secure. If you use similar logins on multiple sites, people and even bots may be able to access your account.

    We always recommend using unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication if possible. Make sure you are secure.
  • Be sure to join the discussion on our discord at: Discord.gg/serebii
  • If you're still waiting for the e-mail, be sure to check your junk/spam e-mail folders

Anyone here NOT like using "HM Slaves"?

Do you use "HM Slaves"?

  • YES, I teach all HM's to 2 Pokemon.

    Votes: 13 35.1%
  • NO, I split HM's up amongst my team.

    Votes: 10 27.0%
  • I keep Pokemon with HM's in the PC until needed.

    Votes: 14 37.8%

  • Total voters
    37
Status
Not open for further replies.

pokemasta92

Well-Known Member
HM slaves might be helpful for some people, but I like to play differently. No matter what Pokémon I have in my party I always like to have all HM's on me at once so that I'm not restricted in any way during gameplay. With that being said, I also don't like to shove all of them onto 2 Pokémon. I prefer to split them up, so that I can always be prepared, but at the same time have all of my Pokémon be battle ready. I also like to use field moves that apply to different games, such as Dig in every generation and Secret Power in generation 3. I'm aware that I can't make the most powerful team this way and that it is no good competitively, but it's not about that for me. It's about being prepared while still having strong Pokémon, even if it means they can't be the strongest. Anyone else here like to do this? Here's my current Ruby team to show what I mean:

- BLAZIKEN: Flamethrower, Blaze Kick, Sky Uppercut, Rock Smash (HM06)

- MANECTRIC: Thunder, Thunderbolt, Spark, Flash (HM05)

- WAILORD: Hydro Pump, Surf (HM03), Waterfall (HM07), Dive (HM08)

- AGGRON: Iron Tail, Rock Tomb, Dig, Cut (HM01)

- MIGHTYENA: Crunch, Bite, Thief, Strength (HM04)

- SWELLOW: Fly (HM02), Aerial Ace, Secret Power, Facade
 

Minedreigon

A monument to all your sins
I do a similar thing, I think HM slaves are a waste of space.
 

Lugia's Chosen

Well-Known Member
Aside from surf and fly I've never really felt like the other HM moves were useful in battle. I don't like a fluff move taking up a spot that could have a more powerful one.

So yeah, I guess I do use HM slaves.
 

IAintObeezy

Ban this Trainer
I can understand this complaint for ruby and sapphire since those game were where HM's were the most heavily used.
 

Ivoright

I am back! Probably.
I try not to, but sometimes the pokémon is the only one who can learn those HMs, so it happens anyway.
An example being Simipour, during my Black playthrough. I had no other water-types on my team, so he ended up with Surf, Waterfall, and Dive.
 

Xylo

Active Member
For story mode, It doesn't really matter to me. I use HMs on my main team (this applies to the older generations) to beat story mode.
 

Puma Italia

Well-Known Member
I don't like using them, but if I have to use them I do. I have a water type on my ingame teams so that is my Surfer and my Flyer is whatever bird is in the starting area. The biggest pain was needing a Pokemon that could use Flash because it's such a horrible move.
 

carpark

New Member
I'll put an HM needed for a certain part of the game on one of my pokemon I'm actively using in my team at that time. So I always carry my Unfezant with fly, and switch other pokemon out of the PC if I need their HM--but I also use them for battling, though not often; they aren't only in my possession for HM use. I don't really like the idea of HM slaves either! It makes my pokemon seem more like objects or means to an end than lil pets
 

Green Okido

Viridian Gym Leader
Surf and Fly are usefull HM's to use on a Pokémon but the others i don't like to use them for battle because they occupy a slot that can be used for a much stronger and usefull attack.
 

octoboy

I Crush Everything
I used to spread my Hidden Moves more throughout my team than I did before. I soon found it in some ways more convenient to give some of the Hidden Moves to pokémon who didn't fight because being forced to bear those moves made my fighter pokémon weaker (especially rock smash, it's a real waste of a move slot in battle). That said, this still gets annoying. There are so many Hidden Moves you need just to get around that you pretty much either have to sacrifice a lot of your fighting pokémons' actually useful moves for moves required for navigation, or sacrifice some slots in your party for non-fighting beasts of burden (and now I think it's at least two slots, as there are definitely some areas in the game which require more than four of these moves available). The latter is pretty irritating as it slows the level grinding process frustratingly (the highest level training fodder before the League is Victory Road which enforces a ton of Hidden Move use), which is a pretty annoyingly dull part of the game as is.
 

Sand25

Let's kick it.
I do the same, I really don't like using HM slaves since I can have a much better pokemon on their spot.
 
I take HM slaves for any HMs that are incredibly area dependent such as Defog, or Waterfall. The only ones I keep on main pokemon are Surf and Fly because those will be used the most and in the case of Surf, its actually viable as a battling move where as stuff like Rock Smash and Cut will hinder you.
 

Skytorn

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ вuttєrflч!
I don't really use them. I try to give each Pokemon on my equal HMs as having an extra Pokemon just for HMs wastes space.
 

Chandelurefan1

Well-Known Member
I really think HM Slaves waste a space on your team, fortunately Pokémon Black and White reduced the number of HMs needed to complete the game.
 

AD95

Well-Known Member
I always used Golduck. (can learn anything is SS/HG except fly). I don't like giving a pokemon that I trained the HM rocksmash or cut...

So yeah, Golduck is my hm slave.
 

PsychicPsycho

Well-Known Member
In my playthrough team there's always 6 useful pokemon, no slaves, although the pokemon usually have at least a couple HMs between them. However, I usually set aside some pokemon in the PC that can use HMs so I don't have to go searching when I need them.

For areas in which none of my team can learn the HM necessary to get through I'll use a temporary replacement for one of them, so I guess you could say I use a slave on occasion.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top