Mechanics Duplicate moves and PP behavior in Gen 1

[DerpySuX]

What type of bug are you reporting? Unsure

What is the bug?
I’m honestly not too sure if this is a genuine bug or just RBY jank but during a game of CC 1v1 my opponent mimicked my double team while having their own double team, and this resulted in an infinite PP glitch.

Honestly this is kinda funny lmao

Are you able to replicate it? If so, how?
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1challengecup-2168993410?p2

 

[DaWoblefet]

Mimic can copy a move the Pokemon already knows in Generation I, but the PP behavior is incorrect. In modern generations, using a duplicate moveslot move will only deduct PP from the first moveslot available, and then once PP runs out, the move will just fail every time when used. In Gen 1 however, you can have multiple copies of the same move in your moveset and run out of PP for each of them independently. Looks like the modern generation behavior is also bugged (because it should prevent the move's usage, not allow it to be used again with no consequence). But I don't know all the mechanics of duplicate moves across all generations, so for the purposes of this thread, the Gen 1 behavior specifically is bugged.

Another sample replay and screenshot showing the bug:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen1ou-2169816571

 

[PKMN Master™]

Bug Report: Mimic PP Mechanic Broken in Pokémon Showdown, Affecting NC97 Stall Strategy
Hello Smogon team,

I would like to support this report of a significant bug in Pokémon Showdown concerning the move Mimic, which has serious implications for the NC97 metagame.

Issue Description (a reiteration)
The move Mimic is currently not working as intended on Pokémon Showdown. Specifically, its mechanic related to PP usage is literally broken, resulting in users gaining unlimited PP for the copied move which appears duplicated in their movepool. This is not consistent with the actual in-game mechanics of Pokémon Green/Red/Blue/Pikachu (aka Yellow), where PP management is a crucial part of NC97.

Implications:
1) This bug undermines the strategic essence of NC97, which heavily relies on PP stalling and resource management.

2) Because of this flawed mechanic, many hosts have felt compelled to ban Mimic in their NC97 tournaments to prevent abuse, which distorts the meta and data collection, giving an inaccurate picture of move viability.

3) This situation is reminiscent of the 2014 Body Slam paralysis glitch on Normal types in RBY, which was an unintended simulator error and heavily affected competitive play until it was addressed.

Why this matters:
NC1997 (NC97) sees an increasingly growing player base, and the competitive community is eager to have more tournaments and events with this metagame. However, until this Mimic PP bug is fixed, the meta will continue to be skewed by an artificial mechanic, hampering fairness and competitive integrity.

I strongly urge the Smogon/Showdown developers and community to prioritize fixing this bug so that Mimic can be used as intended, preserving the originality of the NC97 experience and encouraging wider participation.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

[Cazenovia]

But I don't know all the mechanics of duplicate moves across all generations, so for the purposes of this thread, the Gen 1 behavior specifically is bugged.

In Gen 1, Gen 2, and Gen 3, double moves result in both moves being treated essentially as different moves - once you run out of PP for one move, you can use the second move until that move runs out of PP, after which trying to use either of the two moves will result in the no PP message.

In Gen 4, Gen 5, Gen 6, and Gen 7, double moves work as they do on PS!, where using the second double move will result in the move being selected, but it will instead display "But there was no PP left for the move!" instead of carrying out the move's function, and will not subtract PP from the second move.