HM Slaves in HG/SS

[Wobbegong]

I couldn't find another post lurking around here already, and some googling didn't turn up The One Definitive Answer. So!

In Diamond, I gifted myself a Bibarel (Strength, Rock Smash, Waterfall, Rock Climb) and a Drifblim (Cut, Fly, Defog) from my fairly-complete Pearl file-- I had Surf covered in my team, since it's such a great attack for a Starmie anyways. My actual combat team was only 4 pokemon total, so 4 combat pokes + 2 HM slaves = never had to PC-juggle my team to get through a specific area or route.

Well, SoulSilver has decided to be less merciful. HM 05 is now Whirlpool instead of Defog, and Drifblim won't learn that; not to mention Headbutt has turned into an informal HM sort of like Flash. Now I'm stuck trying to cross-reference TM/HM learn lists to pick out a new pair I can stick in the back of my roster and never worry about. (I think I'm running either a 4-combat team, or a 5-combat in some situations, so there might be a little juggling, but it won't be of the "well which HMs do I need for THIS journey from points A to B?")

So who have YOU used? How has it worked out? Any suggestions, either of the "do this" or "don't do this" variety?

 

[Secad MS]

My team has a couple HM slaves. For Waterfall, a handy attack as well, my Ferligatr serves well. For Rock Smash, Rock Climb, Strength, and Headbutt I use my Graveler Pakku, my Poliwhirl, has Surf and Whirlpool. Cut and Flash went to my Victreebell. Fly, of course, went to my handy Fearow Freud.

 

[Kerauno]

In Platinum, I totally failed in the HM department. I had my starter (Empoleon) become one accidentally, and I caught a Staraptor and Bibarel to compensate for the other moves. Empoleon had Surf, Rock Climb, Waterfall, and Strength. Staraptor had Fly and Defog. And Bibarel had Rock Smash and Cut. After a while, Bibarel became a Thief slave. Now, whenever I need to leave a city, I need to swap my CB team for the HM slaves.

In Heart Gold, I fared no better. I had my Meganium with Flash, and Sandshrew with Cut, Rock Smash, Rock Climb, Strength. I transferred over a Manaphy and Chatot to be the water slave and flier. I also had a Sentret for Headbutt. Suffice to say, I totally suck at building teams. I'll probably have to go back and fix everything again, so I won't have to juggle the slaves.

 

[Sir Red]

Gyarados was one of my HM slaves in SS. I had it packing Waterfall, Strength, Rock Smash and Whirlpool. Other then those, I think I slapped Cut on something that had an open slot and anything else was taken out of my PC if I needed it to continue on in the game. (Although the Machop line can use a good number of HM's too. I've used one before in Platinum.)

 

[Keleri]

Gyarados is a good one for caves and whatnot (Surf, Rock Smash, Whirlpool, Waterfall, Strength, take your pick) and I like Skarmory for everyday use since it can learn Cut, Fly, Rock Smash and Flash.

 

[Myth Busted]

I just.... love HM Slaves!

Empoleon and Graveler are my HM Slaves. And my Staraptor knows Defog.

I called my Graveler HM Slave lol.

 

[Toastie]

I made a team of 8, with 1 of them (My Pidgeot, Fluster) knowing Fly. My Vileplume knew cut, although post-game I replaced the move. Apart from my Typhlosion knowing strength possibly, I probably just PC-juggled.

 

[Anonymous]

bibaral and starly traded from platinum because i couldnt find pokemon in johto that can learn alot of hm moves

 

[Blisk]

In my opinion, Bibarel and Skarmory/Tropius are the best HM Slaves available. I don't remember which games the Skarmory and Tropius are best for because I think it was game specific due to HM changes, but they work great. Because it's annoying having HM slaves, I cheated a big and traded over the two for my playthrough SoulSilver. Granted this didn't help too much; they took up two team slots still, which made evenly training harder.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Personally used a Red Gyarados/Skarmory pair I called Savage and Noble. Savage wields Waterfall, Strength, Surf and Whirlpool, whilst Noble wields Cut, Fly, Rock Smash and Flash. No one has Rock Climb yet, mostly because I haven't reached that point in SS (Because Gog Damnit, I really can't be arsed to level up so much. @_@)

 

[Anonymous]

The only HM slave i ever had was my Blissie, only good for getting me around....

 

[Pheonix]

I ported in a Wingull to be my fly/surf/whirlpool bitch, I had already bred a ice punching, dragon dancing, waterfall wielding monstrosity of a Totodile, and Scizor got Rock Smash and Cut to fill out its moveset to work nicely with Technician (because honestly, most things were already getting murdered by Bullet Punch). I think I shoved Flash on Meganium just because I had room and no idea what else to use. Overall, not bad at all.

 

[Sam-Chan]

My HM slaves were Lucario, Staraptor, Tentacruel, and Miltank.
Lucario: Rock Climb, Strength, and Rock Smash.
Staraptor: Fly, Defog, and Cut.
Tentacruel: Surf and Waterfall.
Miltank: Rock Smash, Strength, and Headbutt( Probably doesn't count ).
It's quiet covinent to have them but, I feel bad because they miss out on learning any cool moves when leveling .

 

[Blisk]

It's quiet covinent to have them but, I feel bad because they miss out on learning any cool moves when leveling .

That's why most people only have a couple Pokemon have HMs instead of four. It could work for you, but if you had less Pokemon with HMs, then the rest of the team that doesn't have them could be more powerful. An example of this is Lucario, it's a great Pokemon with an awesome moveset, but HMs hinder it a bit. Just my opinion on the matter.

 

[Blarg]

I usually end up using the starter rodents as my slaves, no matter what. In a recent run of Sapphire, I also used a Lotad for Flash, but whatever.

In HG/SS, I ended up using Rattata for Cut, Rock Smash, and all that jazz. Then I caught a Pidgey. Surf is usually in reserve for whatever Water Pokemon I use for my team, and I caught a Goldeen for Waterfall, but that is about it.