As players make their way through Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl's Sinnoh region, they should start to notice special patterns on certain walls and ledges. Investigating these grooves up close will reveal that it's actually possible to climb up and down rocks at these points. Despite these markings showing up fairly early on in the story though, players won't actually be able to do anything with them until they've reached a certain point in the games.

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As with all of the other special actions in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, including cutting down trees and moving large stones, players must use a Hidden Machine in order to climb rocks. In this case, however, rather than Cut or Strength, it's the aptly named Rock Climb HM that players will need to have in their possession. Unfortunately, however, much like some of the other HMs in the game, Rock Climb can be very easy to miss, so players will need to keep their eyes peeled in order to avoid having to backtrack later on.

Where to Find the Rock Climb HM/TM in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

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Players will be able to find Rock Climb on Route 217 while making their way north towards Snowpoint City and Lake Acuity. As they head north along the route, players should stick loosely to the left side of the path until they come to a small hut. Inside, they'll find a hiker who mentions that he has lost his HM08, which contains Rock Climb. After speaking with him, players should head outside and look around in the area directly behind the cabbin, where they'll find the item on the ground. If they return to the Hiker after picking it up, he'll also hand over the Icicle Plate item as a way of saying thanks.

How to use the Rock Climb HM/TM in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

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Rock Climb works in much the same way as other HMs in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, meaning that players won't actually need to teach the move to one of their Pokemon to use it as they would in other games. Instead, they'll simply need to approach one of the games' many climbable walls and then press the A button. This will bring up a prompt that in turn triggers a short animation, after which, players will be able to climb up and down at their leisure.

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Like other Hidden Machines in the games, Rock Climb requires players to have defeated a certain gym leader before they can actually use it out in the field. In this case, players will need to beat Candice at the Snowpoint City gym, which, conveniently, just happens to be one of the player's next destinations after Route 217. Once they have their Icicle Badge, players will be able to use Rock Climb as described above, or by selecting it from the Hidden Machines app on their Poketch.

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