Pokémon Infinite Fusion HM Locations: Where to Find Every HM Replacement

Looking for the HM locations in Pokémon Infinite Fusion? Here is the twist every new player needs to hear: there are no traditional HMs in this game. You will never teach Cut to a Pokémon, and you will never need an HM slave. Instead, Infinite Fusion replaces every HM with a key item that anyone can use, from garden shears that cut down trees to a surfboard that carries you across the ocean. This guide lists every HM replacement item, exactly where to find it, what you need to unlock it, and the order to grab them so you never get stuck.

Quick note: pokemon-infinitefusions.site is an unofficial fan guide. We are not affiliated with Nintendo, Game Freak, or the creators of Pokémon Infinite Fusion.

How HMs work in Pokémon Infinite Fusion: key items, not taught moves

In the main games, HMs are moves you teach to your Pokémon, which usually means sacrificing a party slot to a Bibarel that knows Cut, Surf, Strength, and Waterfall. Infinite Fusion throws that whole system out. Each field move is tied to a key item in your bag. Walk up to a small tree with the Shears and you cut it. Reach water with the Surfboard and you surf. No badges gate the use of most items once you own them, no party slot is wasted, and your six battlers stay exactly how you built them in the team builder.

The trade-off is that you have to find each item, and several are locked behind story progress, gym badges, or quest counts. Miss one and a whole region stays closed. That is what this guide solves. Below is the full quick-reference list, then a detailed breakdown of each item: where it is, how to get it, and what it unlocks.

Every HM replacement item: quick reference

• Shears (replaces Cut): Route 2. Cuts small trees.
• Pickaxe (replaces Rock Smash): Vermillion City. Smashes cracked rocks.
• Dolly (replaces Strength): Route 13. Pushes heavy boulders.
• Lantern (replaces Flash): any hotel, after completing 10 quests. Lights dark caves.
• Teleporter (replaces Fly and Teleport): Goldenrod City. Fast travel to visited cities.
• Surfboard (replaces Surf): Route 19 beach, after your 6th gym badge. Lets you surf.
• Jetpack (replaces Waterfall): Route 9. Climbs waterfalls.
• Scuba Gear (replaces Dive): Brine Road. Explores underwater areas.
• Climbing Gear (replaces Rock Climb): Ice Mountains. Scales climbable walls.

For the full inventory of everything else you can pick up, our complete key item locations guide covers story items, TMs, and fusion items alongside these nine.

Shears: your Cut replacement on Route 2

The Shears are the first HM replacement you will find, and they set the tone for the whole system. They are waiting on Route 2, very early in the game, and they let you chop down the small trees blocking paths out of the starting area. The community walkthrough describes the exact moment: an old man in a house on Route 2 hands them over after you offer to cut the trees in his backyard, and then you use them on the trees blocking Viridian Forest and the path east of Cerulean City toward the Day Care.

What the Shears unlock is bigger than it looks. Cutting those first trees opens Viridian Forest’s side areas, the Pewter Museum fossil scientist quest, and the Day Care on Route 5, where you can leave Pokémon to level passively and pick up a Togepi egg. Grab the Shears the moment you reach Route 2 and cut every small tree you see. Trees you skip early become annoying backtracking later.

Pickaxe: the Rock Smash replacement in Vermillion City

Cracked rocks start appearing early, and the Pickaxe is the answer. You will find it in Vermillion City, and once it is in your bag, every cracked boulder in caves and on routes becomes breakable. Smashed rocks can hide items or trigger wild encounters, so make a habit of swinging at every cracked rock you pass. The Pickaxe is one of the two early tools, alongside the Shears, that unblock the first real dungeons, so if you are still in early Kanto and have not picked it up, detour to Vermillion City before pushing further.

Dolly: the Strength replacement on Route 13

Heavy boulders in caves and dungeons need the Dolly, Infinite Fusion’s stand-in for Strength. You will find it on Route 13, and from that point on, pushing boulders onto switches and out of doorways works the way Strength puzzles always have, minus the wasted move slot. Boulder puzzles guard some of the game’s better hidden items, so when you arrive at a dungeon with pushable rocks and cannot move them, the answer is almost always “go get the Dolly first.”

Lantern: the Flash replacement (finish 10 quests)

Dark caves are miserable without light, and the Lantern is how you fix that. Unlike most HM replacements, which you find lying around or earn through the story, the Lantern is quest-gated: complete 10 quests, then claim it from any hotel’s quest counter. Quests are handed out by hotel patrons across the regions, and the questmaster scientist on the second floor of the Pewter City hotel tracks your total.

Why it matters: Rock Tunnel is pitch black without it, and the Dark Room in Mt. Moon is nearly unnavigable. The community walkthrough specifically recommends having the Lantern before tackling Mt. Moon’s dark areas. If you are the kind of player who rushes the story and ignores side quests, this is the item that punishes that habit. Start grabbing quests from the first hotel you visit and the Lantern will be waiting when the dark caves arrive.

Surfboard: the Surf replacement on Route 19

The Surfboard is the item that changes the mid-game completely. You earn it on the beach of Route 19, after your 6th gym badge, by beating a Cool Trainer in a surf contest. The Fandom community walkthrough confirms the details: find the Cool Trainer on the beach, win the contest, and he hands over the Surfboard, explicitly described as the HM Replacement Item for Surf.

Everything about the back half of the game flows from this item. Surfing opens the Sevii Islands, the Viridian River, the water routes around Cinnabar, and most of the game’s hidden coastline items. It also unlocks surfing encounters, which include some Pokémon you cannot find any other way. If you have just earned it, resist the urge to push straight to the next gym. Spend an hour sweeping the newly reachable water: the item haul pays for itself. Players mapping the water routes can cross-reference the world map with the dex to plan which surfing encounters to hunt.

Teleporter: the Fly and Teleport replacement in Goldenrod City

The single biggest quality-of-life item in the game is the Teleporter, which replaces both Fly and Teleport. It lives in Goldenrod City, in the building whose elevator is under maintenance. The community walkthrough gives the exact path: climb the stairs past the trainers to the top floor, take the elevator down to the basement, and check the side room. The Teleporter is waiting there.

Once you have it, you can fast travel to any city you have visited, instantly. This collapses the game’s backtracking problem completely: quest turn-ins, shopping trips for evolution stones, revisiting old routes with new tools, all of it becomes a menu click. Grab it the moment you first reach Johto and Goldenrod City. Every hour you delay is an hour of walking you did not need to do.

Jetpack: the Waterfall replacement on Route 9

Waterfalls block several late-game routes, and the Jetpack is what climbs them. You will find it on Route 9, and while the route itself is in early Kanto, the Jetpack earns its keep in the late game, where waterfall climbs guard high-value areas and rare encounters. When you hit a waterfall you cannot pass, this is the item to check for. Like every other HM replacement, it works from the bag with no Pokémon required.

Scuba Gear: the Dive replacement on Brine Road

The Scuba Gear replaces Dive and opens the game’s underwater areas. You will pick it up on Brine Road, and it lets you explore dive spots including the hidden item locations off Route 20. Underwater areas in Infinite Fusion hide some of the game’s most missable items, so the Scuba Gear rewards thorough players. If you are doing a completionist run, sweep every dive spot before you consider an area finished.

Climbing Gear: the Rock Climb replacement in the Ice Mountains

The last of the nine is the Climbing Gear, the Rock Climb replacement, and it is the most out-of-the-way. A hiker on a peak in the Ice Mountains rewards you with it, and from then on you can scale the climbable walls in the northern Johto peaks. The Fandom wiki’s walkthrough notes that several legendary encounters and vortices sit on high ground that only Rock Climb can reach, including spots tied to the creation trio, so the Climbing Gear is effectively required for the postgame legendary hunt. If you are chasing legendaries, our legendary locations guide pairs well with this section.

The best order to collect every HM replacement

Collected in the right order, the nine items chain into each other with almost no backtracking. Here is the progression that wastes the least time:

• Shears (Route 2): grab immediately. Unlocks Viridian Forest’s side paths, the Day Care, and early quest lines.
• Pickaxe (Vermillion City): grab on your first visit. Unlocks cracked rocks in every early dungeon.
• Dolly (Route 13): grab when you reach it. Unlocks boulder puzzles guarding hidden items.
• Lantern (10 quests): start questing early so it is ready before Rock Tunnel and Mt. Moon’s Dark Room. Do not arrive at a dark cave without it.
• Teleporter (Goldenrod City): grab the moment you reach Johto. From here on, travel time stops being a problem.
• Surfboard (Route 19): win the surf contest after your 6th badge, then sweep the water routes before pushing the story.
• Jetpack (Route 9) and Scuba Gear (Brine Road): collect as their areas open up; both pay off in hidden items and rare encounters.
• Climbing Gear (Ice Mountains): the last pickup, and the key to the postgame legendary high ground.

Stuck? Run this checklist

If you are staring at an obstacle you cannot pass, the answer is on this list nine times out of ten. Small trees mean Shears. Cracked rocks mean Pickaxe. Pushable boulders mean Dolly. Darkness means the Lantern (and probably 10 finished quests). Water means the Surfboard. A waterfall means the Jetpack. A dive spot means Scuba Gear. A climbable wall means Climbing Gear. And if the problem is distance rather than terrain, you probably have not picked up the Teleporter yet. Match the obstacle to the item, check the location above, and go get it.

Why do old guides mention HM numbers like HM08?

If you have been reading older walkthroughs, you may have seen references to HM08 Flash or a TM for Rock Smash that you teach to a Pokémon. Those come from older versions of the game, where field moves worked more like the main series. In the current version, 6.7.2, every one of those is a key item. So if a guide tells you to teach Flash to a Pokémon to light up Rock Tunnel, that guide is outdated: you need the Lantern from the quest counter instead. When in doubt, trust the key-item list above over any guide that talks about teaching HMs. And if your own game still behaves the old way, you are on an old build: download Pokémon Infinite Fusion fresh to get the current mechanics.

Pokémon Infinite Fusion HM locations FAQ

Where is HM01 Cut in Pokémon Infinite Fusion?

There is no HM01. Cut’s job is done by the Shears, a key item you get on Route 2 from the old man whose backyard trees you cut down.

Do my Pokémon need to learn HM moves?

No. Field moves are used through key items, not taught moves, so no party slot is ever wasted on an HM carrier.

Which HM replacement should I get first?

The Shears on Route 2. They are the earliest, they unlock the most early content, and every small tree you skip becomes backtracking later.

How do I get the Surfboard?

After your 6th gym badge, go to the beach on Route 19, beat the Cool Trainer in his surf contest, and he hands it over.

Can I miss any HM replacement item?

Not permanently. They are all pickups, quest rewards, or contest prizes that stay available. The easiest to delay is the Lantern, because it needs 10 completed quests, so keep questing steadily.

Do I need gym badges to use the items?

Using an item you own is never badge-gated the way taught HMs were. A few items are found behind story progress (the Surfboard needs 6 badges of progress to reach), but once an item is in your bag, it works.

That is every HM location in Pokémon Infinite Fusion: nine key items, nine obstacles removed, zero wasted party slots. The system is one of the game’s best design decisions, because it keeps your team exactly the way you built it while still gating the world behind real exploration. Work through the list in order, keep your quest count climbing for the Lantern, and grab the Teleporter the second you reach Goldenrod City. If this guide unblocked your run, the fusion calculator is the natural next stop for planning what to do with all that newly reachable territory.