BlindMessiah94 said:
Hubilub said:
I hate HM's.
They completely break my Pokemon selection. All those attacks planned out for the enemy? Fuck that, I must leave space for waterfall.
HM's are the worst part of pokemon. They force me to use cheat codes. It's annoying. I had a cheat code in Platinum? Maybe Diamond? Anyway, it let me teach any pokemon any HM, and also allowed me to delete HM's just like any move when learning a new one.
I wound up having two magikarps that I just taught every HM in the game and kept in my party. It really is annoying having to sacrifice two slots just for that.
Why cheat? all you need is a machop/bidoof/chansey/makuhita as an HM horse. then you have your Strength, Rock Smash, Cut, Rock Climb (you can replace Cut later, if you want, that's what the Move Deleter is for). Surf and Fly are inherently useful, so no problem there. Waterfall has gained usefulness now that it's stronger and physical so Gyarados (or another physically-inclined Water type) can use it effectively. all that leaves is Dive and Whirlpool, both of which have limited necessity, can both be learned by most Water types, and have almost zero crossover with the other HM horse's move set (ALMOST). (I don't count Dig and Flash, they're not critical) Besides, in every area where you would seriously need 6 combat Poke's, there's a Center nearby, so just switch your horse(es) out for a 6th once in awhile and you should be fine. Honestly, I've never had a problem with HM's except when the game throws curveballs like a random Cut tree or Waterfall. but even then, the roads aren't that long (even less once you unlock Fly), and you benefit from the extra XP anyway...
Yes, it's frustrating sometimes, but the limited available move sets are part of what makes Pokemon strategic and fun.
Perhaps if they made HM moves (except Fly, Surf and Waterfall, they're actually useful in combat) into Key Items instead. that would unlock the ability without costing you a move slot... would that make y'all happier? If so, what items would they be? (slight topic change, *dramatic key-change pose*)
Some ideas: Mini-sub or SCUBA Gear = Dive; Power Glove = Strength (like they haven't used that a billion times already); Rock/Sledge Hammer = Rock Smash; Chainsaw/Felling Axe = Cut; Flashlight/Lantern = Flash...
But would that add too much 'Legend of Zelda' to the Pokemon series? Not that that's a major complaint to us, but Nintendo might not like blending its franchises' uniqueness like that. What's next? a monster-raising and battling element in Mario? Look how well that worked for Sonic...
OR: maybe some Pokes could do things automatically. i.e. any Poke with Illuminate ability would "auto-Flash", Fighting types (or Rock Head ability) could automatically Strength or Rock Smash without having to learn the moves (you would still need the appropriate Badge); a hold item could grant an HM ability (namely Cut, Dive, and possibly Whirlpool). All of that would be in addition to what the Poke's ability already does or some marginally useful in-battle effect of the item.
EDIT: Ok, I forgot Defog... but a Poke using Fly can easily benefit from Defog anyway, especially Staraptor and Skarmory so... not a big deal to me.