Uploaded October 2016 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
A minor bug in Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal where the secondary effect of Acid, Iron Tail, and Rock Smash may occur after the attack breaks the target's Substitute.
For some unknown reason, during the execution of the "Defense down by 1 stage" secondary move effect, the command responsible for testing the secondary effect odds (command effect_chance) is executed twice, one of them occurring after the execution of the command responsible for applying the damage on the target (command hit_target). The result of the second effect_chance command overwrites the result of the first, and as the damage has already been applied at this point, it's possible that a Substitute has been taken down in the process. If so, the game won't be aware that a Substitute had been up before the use of this attack, and proceed to give the move a chance to trigger its secondary effect.
This error does not apply to any other effect of damaging moves, because, in the rest, there is only a single effect_chance command that comes prior to the hit_target command. Therefore, the game notices the Substitute still being up and disables the chance to trigger the secondary effect.
The "Defense down by 1 stage" move effect is used by Acid, Iron Tail, and Rock Smash. In the video, I also showed the 100% secondary effect chance move DynamicPunch to prove that this bug doesn't apply to other moves.
A minor bug in Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal where the secondary effect of Acid, Iron Tail, and Rock Smash may occur after the attack breaks the target's Substitute.
For some unknown reason, during the execution of the "Defense down by 1 stage" secondary move effect, the command responsible for testing the secondary effect odds (command effect_chance) is executed twice, one of them occurring after the execution of the command responsible for applying the damage on the target (command hit_target). The result of the second effect_chance command overwrites the result of the first, and as the damage has already been applied at this point, it's possible that a Substitute has been taken down in the process. If so, the game won't be aware that a Substitute had been up before the use of this attack, and proceed to give the move a chance to trigger its secondary effect.
This error does not apply to any other effect of damaging moves, because, in the rest, there is only a single effect_chance command that comes prior to the hit_target command. Therefore, the game notices the Substitute still being up and disables the chance to trigger the secondary effect.
The "Defense down by 1 stage" move effect is used by Acid, Iron Tail, and Rock Smash. In the video, I also showed the 100% secondary effect chance move DynamicPunch to prove that this bug doesn't apply to other moves.
