Hey there. I’ve been reading your blog, and noticed your rant on the HM system. Something that always bugged me is that HMs seem to be extremely basic techniques for Pokemon. That’s not the problem, though; what bothers me is that you have to teach your Pokemon how to do it. For example, why on earth do you need to teach a Gallade how to cut? Or your Drifblim to fly? Or your Vaporeon to swim and dive? Waterfall’s at least excusable, but still. Just wanted your input on the subject.

When did I do a rant on the HM system?

I mean, I’m sure I must have; someone’s probably asked me about it before, only… I don’t remember what I said…

…oh dear…

Er… anyway.  I’ve seen a lot of people handle this by saying that the knowledge conferred by an HM is not just about how to use the skill in question, but how to use it in a way that is useful to humans.  Teaching a Pokémon Surf, for instance, does not equate to teaching it how to swim – most Water-types, obviously, already know how to do that.  It’s teaching a Pokémon how to swim with a human-sized passenger (not necessarily a trivial thing).  I’ve actually seen it suggested that the technique Dive creates and maintains a bubble of air to allow a trainer to breathe while accompanying a Pokémon on an underwater excursion.  Similarly, flying unencumbered is an entirely different proposition to flying with a 12-year-old kid hanging off you, hacking away at a rigid, immobile tree requires a rather different kind of cutting action to slicing through an opponent’s flesh, and shifting a massive boulder may require not just raw strength but a precise application of force to a single point.

It’s not a perfect rationalisation, but I think it works.