I honestly miss HMs in the Pokémon games. Apparently, this is an unpopular opinion in the community, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. Yes, I do understand that the moves cannot be forgotten until you find the Move Deleter who is usually past the fifth gym leader in each game which means that you are stuck with the HM move for a good chunk of the game...and, for most of them, I fail to see how this is a bad thing or even really an issue. I'll give a brief little bit about each HM (even if they are no longer HMs) before I get to why I don't get the hate.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidKdpwzICI
First one is Cut. Does exactly what it says on the tin and cuts down small trees and, in Gen 3, lowed you to get away a 3 by 3 square of grass to get rid of encounters until you reloaded the area. However, you don't really ever have to use cut past a usually early part of the game if you ever have to use it at all. The only games I can remember being actually forced to use it are Black & White. On top of this, it's not a bad move to have early in the game and, if you give it to a normal type, you get a bit more out of it with same type attack bonus.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSsC8okGDp5
Next I'm going to push two together since they are just the Flying and Water type versions of each other respectively, Fly and Dive. Fly allows you to fast travel from town to town as long as you've been there at least once. In Gen 3, Dive was required to get into the cave where Kyogre/Groudon were being awakened and to get into the final city with a gym. In battle, the Pokémon using this move basically leaves the battle for a turn, though certain attacks can still hit it, before attacking the opponent. Although Fly is certainly the more useful of the two, both are very solid moves and basically allow your Pokémon to be invulnerable for a turn depending on what you're up against.
Surf is up next and is probably the most used HM outside of Fly. I'll also be discussing Whirlpool here even though it was only ever an HM in the Johto region of Gen 2 and 4 remakes. Surf allows the player to travel over bodies of deep water and Whirlpool was needed to cross whirlpools which didn't really matter if you were playing Gold/Heart Gold. Surf hits everything on the field while Whirlpool does initial damage but also does damage over time for a few turns. Surf is definitely the better of the two moves and I'm not sure why they decided that Whirlpool should be an HM when it's only needed for a single version out of the pair.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCp3VNtceA
Strength is another mandatory HM which Surf also falls under save for a select few. Strength allows you push heavy boulders around in the world and is overall a pretty high damage move. I don't really play competitive at all, I don't have the time nor really care enough, but I do know that seeing my Pokémon do a ton of damage makes my brain release the happy chemicals. 88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclDZTf3dGL
For the next HM in number order, there are three that I haven't talked about so I'll do so now, Waterfall, Defog and Flash. Flash lights up dark caves, Defog removes fog from foggy areas and Waterfall allows you to climb up waterfalls. Waterfall is truly the only one worth it as a travel power since there are usually only two or three caves that need lit up, and there is a single route when Defog can be used. I will give both Defog and Flash credit as they lower evasion and accuracy respectively, but most kids (who are the target audience) are not going to care about these moves. Waterfall does a good amount of damage and has the chance to make the target flinch and lose a turn.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUwZyszZkF
Last one on the list is Rock Climb. This travel power allows you to climb up walls in certain areas and is required to complete Gen 4 games...the only place it is an HM. Contrary to belief, this move is normal type and not rock type (I was a bit older when I first noticed this) and is honestly still kinda solid, as well as having the chance to confuse the target (found that out while writing this. That's how little I use this move in battle). You don't get it until much later in the game, by which point you will probably have a better alternative like strength, but that doesn't mean this move should be overlooked completely.
Now that I have that explanation out of the way for those of you both didn't know and actually care, let's get into why I think the hate they get in undeserved. Most of the travel power HMs; Fly, Surf, Waterfall, Rock Climb, Strength, are actually pretty decent moves that you would be giving to a Pokémon you have anyway. As someone who takes the water type starter almost religiously, I already have a Pokémon primed and ready for Surf and Waterfall and teach them as soon as I get them. Same with the others I listed, I will usually have a Pokémon that is a main part of my party by the point I get the HM to teach them to. They're not terrible moves and for the ones you need, you'll probably already have a set party by the time you get there anyways.
Now, let's look at Cut, Flash, Defog, and Whirlpool. As I stated above, if you are playing Gold/Heart Gold, even though I believe you can catch Lugia in Heart Gold as well as Ho-oH (box legendary of Gold), it's not a requirement like it is in Silver/Soul Silver since Lugia is the box legendary for them. Defog is admittedly a bit later into the game with you being able to use it after the fourth gym and it is for only one route and by that time your team should be settling in which makes you lose a move slot until the sixth gym which I understand being annoying. Cut and Flash, however, are usually early enough in the game and aren't really needed that much in the first place that, odds are, you will give them to a first route Pokémon who you will replace later on by either catching its evolved form in the wild or finding a better replacement.
Another thing I want to bring up is the concept of the HM slave in Pokémon. Simply put, this is a Pokémon, usually a normal type since they have the largest move pools, whose sole purpose on the team is to be taught four HMs. While it's not uncommon for even kids to grab a Pokémon specifically for an HM, this was Flash with me when I was younger, it's extremely uncommon for kids to catch a Pokémon specifically for the purpose of being for HMs only. As I said before, usually by the time you get all of the important HMs that are required, your team should be pretty much set for the rest of the game.
All in all, while I do understand the hate for some mid to late game HMs, I don't get the dislike for them all. Yes, you can't get rid of them until the second half of the games, but for a lot of them (beyond still needing to use some of them) there should be no real reason why you would want to. HMs are still decent moves that add something to the move pool, and should be worth looking at. Have a day...
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