Gallantry

Ability ID: 583 Type: Regular Ability

In-Game Description: "Gets no damage for first hit."

Extended In-Game Description

For use in Elite Redux extended ability UI (280-300 chars max)

Negates all damage from the first hit received per battle. Moves still connect and secondary effects apply, but damage becomes 0. For multi-hit moves, only first strike is blocked. Protection persists through switching but is consumed permanently once used. Can be suppressed by Mold Breaker.

Character count: 292

Detailed Mechanical Explanation (Discord/Reference)

Gallantry is essentially a weaker, breakable version of Cheating Death.

Implementation in abilities.cc (lines 6160-6170):

constexpr Ability Gallantry = {
    .onEntry = +[](ON_ENTRY) -> int {
        CHECK_NOT(GetSingleUseAbilityCounter(battler, ability))

        BattleScriptPushCursorAndCallback(BattleScript_BattlerHasASingleNoDamageHit);
        return TRUE;
    },
    .noDamageHits = 1,
    .breakable = TRUE,
    .persistent = TRUE,
};

Key Differences from Cheating Death:

1. Number of Hits: Blocks only 1 hit (noDamageHits = 1) vs Cheating Death's 2 hits
2. Breakable: breakable = TRUE - can be suppressed by abilities like Mold Breaker
3. Simpler Counter Logic: Uses CHECK_NOT(GetSingleUseAbilityCounter(battler, ability)) instead of calculating remaining uses

Trigger Conditions

• Activates when the Pokémon would take damage from an attack
• Only blocks the first 1 hit received in battle per Pokémon
• Can be suppressed by Mold Breaker, Teravolt, Turboblaze, etc.
• Does not activate on passive damage or entry hazards

Numerical Effects

• Hits Blocked: Exactly 1 hit per battle
• Damage Reduction: 100% (damage becomes 0)
• Suppression: Can be bypassed by Mold Breaker abilities

Interactions

Counter System: The GetSingleUseAbilityCounter function retrieves a counter stored per Pokémon, per ability, per side:

gBattleStruct->singleuseability[gBattlerPartyIndexes[battler]][index][GetBattlerSide(battler)]

With Mold Breaker:

• Unlike Cheating Death, Gallantry can be suppressed by Mold Breaker-type abilities
• When suppressed, the protection does not activate

With Other Mechanics:

• Move still makes contact (triggers contact abilities)
• Secondary effects still apply (status, stat changes)
• Shows hit animation but 0 damage

Special Cases

Multi-Hit Moves:

• Gallantry blocks ONLY the first hit of multi-hit moves
• After the first hit is blocked, the counter increments to 1
• Subsequent hits in the same multi-hit attack deal normal damage
• Example: Against Bullet Seed (2-5 hits), only the first hit deals 0 damage; hits 2-5 deal full damage

Battle Script Messages:

• Always uses BattleScript_BattlerHasASingleNoDamageHit when entering with protection available
• No variable message based on remaining uses (unlike Cheating Death)

Reset Behavior:

• Both Gallantry and Cheating Death have persistent = TRUE
• Counter does NOT reset on switching
• Protection is consumed permanently once used

Notes

• Gallantry vs Cheating Death Summary:

  • Gallantry: 1 hit protection, breakable by Mold Breaker
  • Cheating Death: 2 hit protection, unbreakable
  • Both persist through switching and last the entire battle per Pokémon

• Counter starts at 0, increments to 1 after first use, then blocks activation

• Designed as a more balanced alternative to Cheating Death's stronger protection