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Technical Machines (or TMs) are devices used to give a Pokémon the ability to use
Special Moves they would not learn through training naturally, and are the only
current legal means to genetically modify a Pokémon. They work in tandem with the Pokémon's own existing physical structure, and as a result, only certain species of Pokémon are compatible with certain TMs.
There are two kinds of TMs, Cubic-based and Disc-based. Cubic-based TMs have to be used on Pokémon that are outside of their
Pokéballs, and work by imbuing data when opened and held either side of a Pokémon's head. Disc-based TMs are fitted over the front of a Pokémon's ball while the creature is within, and work by altering the Pokémon's data while it is in a 'digitized' state.
Both kinds of TMs are highly data-efficient, being required to store the DNA prints of several species of Pokémon in order to modify them accordingly. And both kinds also have their pros and cons. Cubic-based TMs excel in allowing the Pokémon exposed to them to use the move data they contained as soon as they have been introduced to it. However, these TMs are only able to be used upon one Pokémon and are thus considered costlier and more wasteful to reproduce. Disc-based TMs have become more popular in recent years due to their re-usability, despite it taking longer for a Pokémon exposed to one to be able to use its new move.
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