The Deprecation of HMs

Those who have played the Pokémon main series games from the first up to today know that a part of their history involves something called Hidden Machines or HMs. By today, however, they pretty much have been deprecated or no longer really used for one of their intended purposes, which is to provide moves that can then be used on the field ("field moves") to advance past a particular area with features that demand their usage. It is helpful to review their history in order to understand the logical reasons for their deprecation.

Hidden Machines or HMs are inherently special in many ways in the games that they were featured. They could only be obtained from what could be considered "obscure" sources, and then to actually use them on the field, they require the earning of specific Gym badges. They in effect act as controls for progression, by making sure that one faces a Gym Leader and wins before attempting to do anything else. It is possible that some of the "obscure" sources are not evident to some people, and they have difficulty finding them in the first place, providing a good reason for their deprecation.

Once the HMs are found, they of course have to be taught to a Pokémon to be able to be used. The caveat is that the moves cannot be forgotten except through a Move Deleter in later games, and they may be nonessential for good plays. This leads to the phenomenon of "HM slaves", which are Pokémon that can learn multiple HM moves for use on the field... and that's pretty much it, as they don't have much role for anything else under this circumstance, and it would be better than having a good Pokémon be stuck with a subpar HM move. All of these are, of course, reasons that naturally point to deprecation as the best option.

Besides HM moves that can be used on the field, there are a number of other moves that could be used in the same manner, and they require no Gym badges and can be replaced easily if the need arises. Rock Smash, a move that became an HM in the third-generation games, was one such move prior to that. While they may not have been in competition with HM moves, they do offer a stark contrast to HM moves in their concept, and the "use anytime" concept finds favor with players; the Pokémon Ride function becomes the manifestation of that, in place of HM moves.

For the longest time, HMs and their moves were the norm in the Pokémon main series games to do unique things in order to progress. Evidently, the concept also presented a few problems, and it can easily be surmised that they played a part in its deprecation for concepts with less hassles. They remain a good and essential part of the history of earlier Pokémon games, and it's wise to understand them in light of how things work in the more recent editions of the main series Pokémon games.

One year ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 10/12/2019

Two years ago: Finding and Re-Finding Players

Three years ago: The (De Facto) Series Mascot