From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokmon encyclopedia.
If you were looking for either of the Pokmon Trading Card Game expansions sometimes abbreviated as TM, see EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua (TCG) or Triumphant (TCG).
A Technical Machine, or TM for short (Japanese: Move Machine), is an item that, like an HM, is used to teach a Pokmon a move. A TM is a machine used by Pokmon Trainers to teach a Pokmon a new move that it might not learn otherwise. Prior to Generation V, TMs were single-use items, unlike Hidden Machines, which can be used over and over again on many different Pokmon. TMs can be found on the ground or bought at department stores. Some are also given away by Gym Leaders as prizes for defeating them in addition to a Badge. Silph Co. has distributed a pamphlet containing information on TMs and HMs, indicating they are, at least partially, developed or produced by the company.
Prior to Generation VI, TM moves will also be passed down through breeding if the baby Pokmon can learn that TM (such as passing Flamethrower from a father Typhlosion to a baby Torchic). Prior to Generation V, there were also several Pokmon that could not learn certain TM moves directly from a TM but could learn them via breeding, such as Vulpix with Energy Ball.
The depiction of TMs has changed over time. In the TCG, they are shown as small boxes that the Pok Ball would be inserted into, but from FireRed and LeafGreen onwards, they have been depicted as compact discs that are inserted into the TM Case and the case itself teaches the Pokmon the move. In Pokmon Origins, TMs and HMs resemble floppy disks, but how they work is never shown.
For the in-game locations of TMs, see List of TM and HM locations.
Generation I featured 50 TMs, with an additional five HMs. Move Tutors in FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald teach several of the moves that were removed from the TM list between Generation I and Generation III.
Generation II introduced several new TMs, a majority of which were new moves introduced in this generation. There remained 50 TMs, as some Generation I TMs were removed. Several moves that were contained in TMs in Generation II but were no longer contained within TMs during Generation III can be taught by a Move Tutor in Pokmon Emerald.
In Generation III, more moves were introduced, and the TM list was again adjusted. The 50-TM limit remained, and several older moves became TMsincluding some that lost their TM status between Generations I and II.
Due to connectivity with the Generation III games, the 50-TM list was not redone in Generation IV. To include new moves and incorporate older moves as TMs, the TM list was expanded from 50 to 92, leaving the first 50 TMs intact. With the eight HMs, the number of machine-learnable moves in Generation IV was at an even 100.
In Generation V, TMs have changed from being single-use items to having unlimited uses, making them akin to HMs. In this generation only, when a Pokmon learns a move from a TM or HM by overwriting an old one, the new move takes on the current PP of the forgotten move. This prevents repeated usage of machines for the purpose of PP restoration. The prices of the purchasable TMs are also much higher to reflect the fact they can be reused, and they can no longer be held or sold. (However, they can be sold in Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity.) In Pokmon Black and White, there are 94 TMs available normally; among the ones numbered 92 and lower, many of them teach different moves from their Generation IV counterparts. With the number of HMs reduced to six, there are once again an even 100 machine-learnable moves. In Black2 and White2, the previously event-only TM95 was made normally available, bringing the number of machine-learnable moves in Generation V to 101.
In Pokmon X and Y and Pokmon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, TMs continued to be multiple-use items. Pokmon Super Mystery Dungeon, however, has both types of TMs, where regular ones can only be used once, and rainbow colored ones have infinite use, and all HMs are TMs instead. Most TMs contained the same moves that they did in Generation V, with the exceptions of TM19, TM51, TM83, and TM88. Five more TMs were added, bringing the number of TMs up to an even 100. As there are only five HM moves in Generation VI, there are now 105 machine-learnable moves. In Pokmon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, two more HMs were added. Additionally, TM94 (Rock Smash) in X and Y was changed to Secret Power to reflect the fact that Rock Smash was an HM once again. This is the only time a TM has changed in the middle of a generation. As a result, there are now 107 machine-learnable moves.
Although most Pokmon are able to learn a wide range of TM moves, there are 15 Pokmon who cannot learn any. Typically, these Pokmon are low in their evolutionary line or rely on a set moveset.
In Generation VI, several Pokmon that were capable of learning TM moves only by leveling up now are able to learn those moves through TM as well.
With few exceptions, all Pokmon who are compatible with TMs can learn the following moves:
In all seven Generations, there have been moves exclusively taught by TMs:
Several moves taught by TM in an earlier generation returned as TMs later on after being absent, but assigned with a different TM number.
In Pokmon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team and Pokmon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky, most TMs that exist in the corresponding core series games of that generation also exist in the Mystery Dungeon games. After use, a TM becomes a Used TM; a Used TM can be turned back into a usable TM by a Pokmon with the move Recycle, except for a Used TM of Recycle, which will remain a Used TM permanently.
In Pokmon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, all TMs are infinite use.
In Pokmon Super Mystery Dungeon, regular TMs are one-use only and disapears after being used, while rainbow colored TMs can be used infinitely.
Although TMs have not appeared in the anime, they were mentioned once in the Japanese version of Pokmon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate!. While talking with the Kecleon Brothers, Charmander of Team Go-Getters mentioned TMs among other things the Kecleon Shop was sold out on. This reference was not included in the dub.
TM34 (Bide) made an appearance in the Pokmon Origins episode File 1: Red. Much like in Pokmon Red and Blue, it was given to Red by Brock as a reward for defeating him in a Gym battle.
Another TM, TM28 (Dig), also made a brief appearance in File 2: Cubone, where Red retrieved it from a Team Rocket Grunt who had stolen it.
In To Evolve or Not to Evolve, That Is the Question!, Ash used TM31 to teach Mikey's Eevee Mimic, allowing it to win a battle against Sparky's Jolteon and thus let Mikey join the Knights of the E Stone.
In Wartortle Wars, a fake TM was seen amongst the many fake items sold to Red by Green.
In PAORAS10, it was explained that TMs are machines that contain the essence of the move they teach to a Pokmon. Before this technology existed, other items served the same purpose. Such items are the rings Ultima carries on her staff, which contain the special moves Frenzy Plant, Blast Burn, and Hydro Cannon, and a scroll held by the Draconids, which contains the move Dragon Ascent.
In the TCG, Technical Machines are types of Trainer cards. Unlike the games, they do not follow any specific numbering.
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