Error "Script not found" when running `pm2 start npm -- start`

What's going wrong?

When trying to run a Next.js based site via PM2 through an npm script, the error above is thrown. See output below:

PS C:\Users\Me\Desktop\MyApp> pm2 start npm --name "app" -- start
[PM2] Starting C:\PROGRAM FILES\NODEJS\NPM.CMD in fork_mode (1 instance)               
[PM2] Done.
[PM2][ERROR] Script not found: C:\Users\Me\Desktop\MyApp\start

How could we reproduce this issue?

package.json

{
    "scripts": {
        "start": "next build && next start -p $PORT"
    },
}

Command:
pm2 start npm --name "app" -- start

Supporting information

OS: Windows 10
NPM Path:

C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm                                                            
C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.cmd                                                        
C:\Users\Me\AppData\Roaming\npm\npm
C:\Users\Me\AppData\Roaming\npm\npm.cmd

report.txt

Reproduce the issue on Windows 10 with the supplied package.json and pm2 start npm --name "app" -- start command. Start by tracing how PM2 resolves npm.cmd and forwards the start argument, using report.txt and the reported npm paths as evidence. Done means the command starts the npm script without a "Script not found" error.