HM
 | This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: restrictions on trading Pokémon that know HM moves |
AHidden Machine (Japanese:ひでんマシンSecret Machine),HM for short, is anitem that, like aTM, is used to teach a Pokémon a move. HMs can be used an unlimited number of times and cannot be disposed of. Moves taught by HMs, known asHM moves orhidden moves,[a] cannot normally be forgotten. These moves have a use asfield moves in games in which they are HMs.
In Japanese games, it is said that HMs areKey Items, according to the text that appears when the player attempts to delete them. However, this was lost in the localization, where it is simply said that some items are too important to be deleted.
Starting inGeneration VII, there are no longer any HMs. Some former HM moves are instead TM orTR moves in these games. The field move uses of HM moves are replaced by:
- Poké RideSMUSUM
- Secret TechniquesPE
- Flying Taxi andRotom BikeSwSh
- Pokétch (Hidden Moves app)BDSP
- Ride PokémonLA
- Flying Taxi andKoraidonS/MiraidonV's upgraded abilitiesSV
In the core series games
Mechanics
HMs can be used any number of times, and cannot be tossed, sold, orheld. This contrasts to TMs in GenerationsI toIV, in which TMs are single-use items that can be tossed, sold, or held. InPokémon FireRed, LeafGreen, andEmerald, HMs cannot be stored in aPC.
Moves taught by HMs are allfield moves in the games in which they are HMs, but some field moves are not HM moves. Like all field moves, they can be used outside of battle even if the Pokémon has fainted or noPP in that move (using it as a field move does not consume PP). Except forGeneration V, the player can only use HM moves as field moves if they have the appropriateBadge or number of Badges (the exact requirements vary between games).
HM moves cannot be forgotten by Pokémon under normal circumstances in the games in which they are HMs, even if they are not learned via HM. They can be deleted by theMove Deleter, althoughSurf cannot be deleted inPokémon Emerald if the Pokémon is the only one in the player'sparty orPC that knows the move. If a Pokémon learns a new move while inPokémon Day Care, an HM move can be replaced if it is at the top of the list; however, inGeneration I, the Pokémon Day Care will not accept Pokémon that know HM moves.
In Generation III and IV, a Pokémon knowing an HM move cannot be transferred to the next generation unless the HM move is removed (e.g. viaMove Deleter). In Generation III,Dive prevents sending forward fromPokémon FireRed and LeafGreen despite not being considered an HM by those games; in Generation IV, since Dive is no longer an HM move, Pokémon with Dive can freely be sent into Generation V games. In Generation IV,Defog andWhirlpool only prevent Pokémon being sent forward from the games they are an HM in (e.g. a Pokémon knowing Whirlpool can be sent from Pokémon Platinum to Generation V); since Whirlpool is not an HM move in Generation III, Pokémon with Whirlpool can freely be sent intoPokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver from Generation III.
Unlike in previous inter-generational transfers, Pokémon transferred from Generation I or V viaPoké Transporter that know HM moves do not require these moves to be deleted. Pokémon which know HM moves cannot be traded overNintendo Wi-Fi Connection or theNintendo Network, and also cannot be deposited in theGTS. Pokémon that know HM moves can also be freely deposited and withdrawn fromPokémon Bank.
In Generation V, Pokémon knowing an HM move cannot be traded viainfrared communications if they are in the player'sparty, to prevent a player from potentially becoming stuck somewhere that requires an HM move to escape.
In Generation III and IV, if the player attempts torelease a Pokémon that is the only Pokémon in their party or PC that knows a certain HM move, it will immediately return. In Generation III, these moves areSurf andDive. In Generation IV, they are Surf,Waterfall, andRock Climb, as well asFly inPokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.
HMs by generation
Generation I
Five HM moves were introduced in this generation. Three HMs (Cut,Surf, andStrength) are required for completing the games.
| HM | Move | Location found | Badge required |
|---|---|---|---|
 HM01 | Cut | S.S. Anne |  Cascade Badge |
 HM02 | Fly | Route 16 |  Thunder Badge |
 HM03 | Surf | Safari Zone |  Soul Badge |
HM04 | Strength | Fuchsia City |  Rainbow Badge |
HM05 | Flash | Route 2 |  Boulder Badge |
Four of them remain as HM moves even throughGeneration VI, while the fifth,Flash, retains the ability to be used outside of battle (to light dark caves inGeneration V, or reduce encounters with wild Pokémon in Generation VI).
None of these moves are able to be forgotten in Generation I, and a Pokémon with these moves cannot be raised by thePokémon Day Care onRoute 5. Unlike in later generations, all of these moves must be selected from the Pokémon screen to be used.
Generation II
The five HMs from Generation I return, while a new move,Whirlpool, is introduced as an HM, and an old move,Waterfall, becomes one as well. Five HMs are required for completing the games: the same three from before (Cut,Surf, andStrength) and the two new HMs.
AMove Deleter was added to the games, mostly with the intention of making possible the ability to deleteGeneration II moves that aGeneration I Pokémon had learned in order to be able to trade it back, though with the side effect of HM moves now being able to be forgotten.
From this generation on, Pokémon with HM moves are allowed in the Day Care, and fathers with HM moves will pass the moves down to their children as they would a TM move. HM moves can also be used just by checking the obstacle that the HM will clear, such assurfable water or a movable rock.
Generation III
Hoenn
Whirlpool lost its HM status, whileRock Smash gained HM status, and a new move,Dive, became an HM, raising the total number to eight. Five HMs are required for completing the games:Surf,Strength,Rock Smash,Waterfall, andDive. While Cut is not required anymore, it can still be used to access optional areas.
Kanto
In Kanto, due to a lack of use forDive outside of battle, HM08 is unobtainable and can only be accessed throughcheating. The first five HMs can be acquired through the same methods as in Generation I, while HM06 and HM07 can be found in theSevii Islands later in the game.
Three HMs are required for completing the games: the same ones from Generation I (Cut,Surf, andStrength). In addition,Waterfall is required for finishing the Pokémon Network machine, which allows trading with the Hoenn games.
Generation IV
Sinnoh
For the first time, one of the original HMs, Flash, lost its status to a new move,Defog, while HM08 was brought back asRock Climb.
Six HMs are required for completing the games:Cut,Surf,Strength,Rock Smash,Waterfall, andRock Climb.
Johto and Kanto
Defog lost its HM status in Johto for the return ofWhirlpool; all other HMs retained their status from the prior Sinnoh games.
Six HMs are required for completing the games:Cut,Surf,Strength,Whirlpool,Waterfall, andRock Climb.
Generation V
HMs were reduced to six in Generation V; HM07 and HM08 no longer exist in the coding ofPokémon Black and White. Dive returns for use in Unova. This generation marks the first and only time that HM moves do not require Gym Badges for use outside of battle. Although most HM moves cannot be obtained before earning certain Gym Badges, if the player obtains a Pokémon that has learned an HM move through other means (vialevel-up,trading, etc.) the player will be able to use the HM in the field without restrictions.
When a move is replaced by an HM, the HM move takes on the current PP of the replaced move untilhealed orreplenished. The same also applies for replacing old moves with TMs.
Of all the HMs, only a single use ofCut is required at theDreamyard for completing Pokémon Black and White. OnlySurf andStrength are required for completingPokémon Black 2 and White 2. Cut, Surf,Strength,Waterfall, andDive can still be often used to access optional areas. Strength may also often be optionally used to make shortcuts.
Generation VI
HMs have returned to requiring a Badge to use them.
When a move is replaced by an HM, the HM move takes on the current PP of the replaced move untilhealed orreplenished. The same also applies for replacing old moves with TMs.
Kalos
HMs were reduced to five in Kalos like in Generation l. The HMs are the same as Generation V, except HM06 was removed.
Surf andStrength are required to complete the game.Cut, Surf, Strength, andWaterfall can be often used to access optional areas. Strength may also often be optionally used to make shortcuts.
ThoughRock Smash is not an HM, it can still be used outside of battle, unlike in Generation V.
| HM | Move | Location found | Badge required |
|---|---|---|---|
 HM01 | Cut | Parfum Palace |  Bug Badge |
 HM02 | Fly | Coumarine City |  Plant Badge |
 HM03 | Surf | Shalour City |  Rumble Badge |
HM04 | Strength | Cyllage City |  Cliff Badge |
HM05 | Waterfall | Route 19 |  Iceberg Badge |
Hoenn
HMs were increased to seven in Hoenn.Rock Smash andDive regained their HM status.
Seven of the eight original Hoenn HMs are available in the remakes.Flash is the exception, which is still usable outside of battle as usual, but is not an HM anymore since Generation IV.
Like in the original Hoenn games, five HMs are required for completing the games (Surf,Strength,Rock Smash,Waterfall, andDive), while Cut can be used to access optional areas.
HM-exclusive moves
Due to the nature of HMs, these moves are often exclusively taught by them.
| HM moves | Generation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | II | III | IV | V | VI | |
| Cut | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Fly | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Surf | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Strength | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Flash | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Whirlpool | ✔ | |||||
| Waterfall | ||||||
| Rock Smash | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Dive | ✔ | |||||
| Defog | ✔ | |||||
| Rock Climb | ✔ | |||||
In the spin-off games
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series
Prior toPokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, HMs can be used an infinite amount of times and are colored differently to TMs. HMs cannot be used inside dungeons and are more difficult to obtain than TMs. InRed Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, each HM can only be found once inspecific dungeons, while inExplorers of Time and Darkness andSky, they can only be found inDestiny Tower orFinal Maze. They play a particular role in Red and Blue Rescue Team, where the player must either have a specific HM in theToolbox or have a party member that knows the move taught by that HM in order to access certain dungeons.
InPokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, HMs are treated more or less the same as TMs. Like TMs, they can only be used once and have the same bag sprite as TMs. Despite this, when a HM is dropped in a dungeon, the color of the HM differs from that of a TM.
Appearance
 |  |  |  |  |
| Sprite of HM from Rescue Team series | Sprite of HM from Explorers series | Sprite of HM from Gates to Infinity | Unused sprite of HM from Super Mystery Dungeon | Unused sprite of rainbow HM fromSuper Mystery Dungeon |
 |  |  |
| Model of a HM from Gates to Infinity | Model of a HM from Super Mystery Dungeon | Unused model of a Used HM from Super Mystery Dungeon |
In animation
Pokémon Origins
HM01 (Cut) appeared inFile 2: Cubone. Much like inPokémon Red and Blue, it was given toRed by the captain of theS.S. Anne after helping him recover from his seasickness.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
Red, Green & Blue arc
InWhat a Dragonite,Red was revealed to have already obtainedHM01 (Cut) for hisIvysaur,HM04 (Strength) for hisSnorlax, andHM05 (Flash) for hisPikachu, one of which he had won in abike race inWake Up—You're Snorlax!. When he tried to get his hands onHM03 (Surf), he ran into some trouble with a wildDragonite, eventually leading to the Hidden Machine getting destroyed. To help him,Misty gave Red herGyaradosin exchange for hisKrabby, since it already knew Surf.
It was also revealed thatBlue had found HM03 before Red, fueling the young Trainer's determination of finding it too.
Pokémon Zensho
InVermilion City, after defeatingLt. Surge,Satoshi received the HM for Cut from the captain of the S.S. Anne, whom he had met earlier.
Trivia
- In the core series,Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, andEmerald and allGeneration IV games have the highest number of HMs available (each game has eight HMs), and all Generation IV games have the most HMs required for completion (with six HMs required in each).
- Of all the core series games with available HMs, theGeneration I games and theKalos (Generation VI) games are the ones with lowest number of HMs (they have five HMs), andPokémon Black and White are the ones with fewest HMs required for completion (with only Cut needed).
- Flash and Defog are never required to finish a game. Flash and Defog remove obstacles (darkness andfog, respectively) that make it difficult to see; areas affected can still otherwise be normally explored with these obstacles present.
- With the exception of Flash, Fly, and Defog, all HMs are required to finish the games where they first gained their HM status.
- In the core series, the only methods that can remove an HM move areMove Deleter and thePokémon Day Care. However, HM moves can be replaced as normal in games in which they are not HMs.
- The only then-current HM moves that were also able to be learned by Pokémon by level-up wereFly andWaterfall. Former HMsFlash,Whirlpool,Defog,Rock Smash,Rock Climb, andDive are also learnable by level, but only since their loss of HM status. Moves that regained their HM status, like Whirlpool and Dive, remained learnable by level-up. Waterfall remains the only HM move that has been learnable by level-up since it was introduced as a move, prior to gaining HM status.
- Rock Smash is the only HM with a unique type. All other HM moves share their type with at least one other HM move.
- As ofPokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, all HM moves have been available by TM at some point.
- InPokémon Gold, Silver, andCrystal, onRoute 20, Swimmer Lori states "Surf is no longer the only HM move you use in water" when she is defeated. This is a reference toGeneration I, where the only HM usable in the water was Surf.
- In Generation IV, all moves that were at one time an HM can be taught via some method, with Flash being available byTM70 and Dive being available byMove Tutor. Defog and Whirlpool, which replace each other in theSinnoh- andJohto-based games, are both HM05.
- Generation IV is the only generation in which two moves share the same HM number.
- Dive is the only HM in Generation V that is not found in a different location betweenPokémon Black and White andPokémon Black 2 and White 2.
- InPokémon Sun, Moon,Ultra, Sun, and Ultra Moon,Swimmer Girls Kylie and Ashlyn, twoKalosian HM-makers encountered atPoni Breaker Coast during the post-game, explain that HMs are not only difficult to make, they also cannot legally be sold for money in most regions.
- Tracey's Scyther is the first Pokémon belonging to a main character of theanimated series to have used a then-current HM move,Cut. It wasn't untilPokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl that one ofAsh's Pokémon used a then-current HM move;Ash's Grotle usedRock Climb.
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese | Cantonese | 秘傳學習器Beichyùhn Hohkjaahphei |
| Mandarin | 秘傳學習器 / 秘传学习器Mìchuán Xuéxíqì | |
| Danish | Skjult maskine | |
| Dutch | Verborgen machine* | |
| French | Canada | HM* |
| Europe | Capsule Secrète (CS) | |
| German | Versteckte Maschine (VM) | |
| Italian | Macchina Nascosta (MN) | |
| Korean | 비전머신Bijeon Machine | |
| Portuguese | Brazil | Máquina Oculta (MO) Máquina Escondida* |
| Portugal | Máquina Oculta* | |
| Spanish | Máquina Oculta (MO) | |
| Swedish | Gömd maskin Gömt fordon* | |
| Vietnamese | Cỗ máy bí truyền | |
HM move / Hidden move
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| French | Capacité CS Capacité secrète | |
| German | VM-Attacke Versteckte Attacke | |
| Italian | Mossa MN Mossa nascosta | |
| Korean | 비전기술Bijeon Gisul | |
| Spanish | Movimiento de MO Movimiento oculto | |
Notes
- ↑Formatted as "hidden move" fromGeneration III toGeneration V, "Hidden Move" inPokémon FireRed and LeafGreen andPokémon Black 2 and White 2, and "Hidden move" (Japanese:ひでんわざsecret move; formatted in kanji as秘伝技secret move only at theEntralink and when usingPoké Transfer in Generation V) in FireRed and LeafGreen.
References
Related articles
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 | This article is part ofProject Moves and Abilities, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on two related aspects of the Pokémon games. |
