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List HMs each Pokemon can learn. By relevant, I mean games pre-Gen VII where HMs are usable.

ago by
edited ago by
thought it was settled science to be bidoof
Bidoof can only learn cut and rock smash https://pokemondb.net/diamond-pearl/hms
Source ^^^^
yeah i should have said bibarel
Might be bibarel but things like giritina draw with it. Also there are some who might be better?
Is there any reason to need the "best" HM slave? Pokemon can only learn four moves, and you can't delete HMs on the fly, so there's no need to have one Pokemon that can learn every HM, right? If you want cut, strength, rock smash, and surf, both Rampardos and Bibarel are equally good Pokemon for the role, despite Bibarel learning more HMs overall. Is there any need to have a good one as long as it can learn 4 HMs that a useful in conjunction? You're going to have to explain what "best" means in order to get an answer for this.
I meant the Pokémon that can learn the most. Also there isn’t really a reason. I’m just curious :P
I am changing the question to what is the most useful HM slave of all-time. (I saw the answer to that one and got curious again)
Again, what makes one Pokemon that can learn every HM more useful than another?
I never said ‘every’ on the question. I said ‘many’
:| my question still stands. You still havent explained what makes a Pokémon that can learn "many" HMs more useful than another. You're failing to define "most useful" in a way that differentiates it from a pokemon that learns the most HMs, which makes it exactly the same as the question I linked.
If you can learn 4 HMs that are commonly used it’s helpful. If you can learn 1 HM that is commonly used it is less helpful. I edited the question to make it clearer
A Pokémon that can learn all HMs can learn 4 HMs that are commonly used. Im not sure what kind of answer you're looking for, because "4 HMs that are commonly used" is a pretty damn broad category, as I imagine a lot of Pokémon can do that. There's no one single best except the Pokémon that can learn all of them.
Edited to make a better question
Wouldn’t that just make it the same as the question taco linked?
EDIT: oops never mind I just realised it’s different

2 Answers

4 votes
 
Best answer

These Pokemon learn the most HMs in every game (besides Mew, Arceus, and post-national Pokedex Pokemon).

RBY: Charizard (cut, fly, strength), Slowpoke (flash, strength, surf), Krabby and Lickitung (cut, strength, surf)
GSC: Psyduck (not cut and fly), Dragonite and Lugia (not flash and cut)
RSE: Lombre and Psyduck (not cut and fly), Crawdaunt (not flash and fly), Latias and Latios (not rock smash and strength), Rayquaza (not cut and flash)
FRLG: Dragonite (not flash)
DPPt: Empoleon (not fly)
HGSS: Feraligatr (not fly), Dragonite (not rock climb)
BW: Samurott (not fly)
B2W2: Samurott and Crawdaunt (not fly)
XY: Dragonite (all of them)
ORAS: Crawdaunt (not fly), Rayquaza (not cut)
source: Pokemon DB's HM pages, and Showdown's /ds command because the RBY page is inaccurate.

If you've played any of these games, you can probably tell this is not a very good list of HM slaves, for several reasons:
Some of them are starters, which you can obtain only once (without breeding) and probably want to use in battle.
Some of them are difficult to evolve, and experience is a valuable resource.
Some of them (especially the legendaries) aren't obtainable early, so you have less time to use them.
So a list of "good" HM slaves should consider all of these in addition to the number of HMs that the Pokemon learns. This list includes the number of HMs needed to obtain the Pokemon, and avoids listing evolved Pokemon. (Pokemon that are easy to evolve, like DP Wingull, are probably fine)

RBY: Farfetch'd (needs 0, cut, fly), Jigglypuff (needs 0, flash, strength) (if your main party doesn't have Blastoise, Nidoking, Vaporeon, or any of the other surf users, you're probably doing something wrong)
GS: Krabby (needs 0, not flash, fly, waterfall)
C: Psyduck (needs 0, not cut and fly)
RSE: Marill (needs 0, not cut, flash, fly)
FR: Psyduck (needs 1, not cut and fly)
LG: Poliwhirl, Gyarados, Lapras (needs 1, not flash, cut, fly), Krabby, Kanghaskhan (needs 1, not flash, fly, waterfall)
DP: Psyduck (needs 0, rock smash, surf, strength, waterfall), Bibarel (needs 2, not defog and fly)
Pt: Psyduck (needs 0, rock smash, surf, strength, waterfall), Bibarel (needs 2, not defog and fly), Lickitung (needs 2, not defog, fly, waterfall), Tropius (needs 2, not surf, rock climb, waterfall)
HGSS: Krabby (needs 0, not fly, waterfall, rock climb)
BW: Panpour (needs 0, not fly and strength)
B2W2: Psyduck (needs 0, not cut and fly)
XY: Corphish (needs 1, not fly)
ORAS: Marill (needs 0, not cut and fly)

Please tell me if I missed any Pokemon or got any of the numbers wrong

ago by
edited ago by
Thanks :)
–1 vote

According to a video by MANDJTV, the best HM mules in every game that has them:-

Red - Krabby
Blue/Yellow - Sandshrew

Gen 2 - Paras (early part) then Psyduck/Golduck

Ruby - Nuzleaf till you get a Psyduck
Sapphire/Emerald - Lombre
FireRed/LeafGreen - Nidoran (male or female)

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum - Bibarel
HG/SS - Paras (early game) then Psyduck/Golduck

Black/White - Watchog (early game) then Golduck
Black 2/White 2 - Watchog and Psyduck in rotation depending on what you need at that point

X/Y - Bibarel
Omega Ruby - Nuzleaf then Psyduck
Alpha Sapphire - Lombre

ago by
Good ol mandjtv! Thanks avi :)
How are Krabby, Sandshrew, or Nidoran better than Farfetch'd or Slowpoke in the Kanto games? How is Paras better than Krabby in the Johto games? How are Lombre and Nuzleaf better than Marill in the Hoenn games?