The altered-color Swellow fell to the ground.
Every spectator's heart hung in suspense, but Baimu and the altered Milotic remained vigilant.
"Frozen Beam!"
"Milooo!"
Milotic slightly raised its head, gathering an ice-blue light orb in its mouth, and the icy lightning shot out like clawed branches, producing a crackling sound in the air as it passed.
Frozen Beam has a longer range than Blizzard, which is characterized by its wide but short coverage; for long-distance attacks, the former is preferable.
But just as the ice-blue lightning was about to hit the grounded Swellow, the latter suddenly moved.
"Sleep-talking!"
With Naqi's voice, the sleeping Swellow suddenly became a white light and disappeared from the spot.
The Frozen Beam missed, and a vicious, sharp ice cluster shot up.
Milotic looked around warily, quickly searching for Swellow's figure.
"Above you!"
The Trainer's voice made it instinctively look up, only to see Swellow diving down in a free-falling position, leaving a long white streak behind.
Screeee—
The surrounding air emitted an extremely piercing whistle.
Lightning Flash!
In haste, Milotic was unable to evade and instinctively swung its tail overhead, using the fan-like tip as a shield, followed by the sound of a fierce collision!
Bang!
The strong force slammed the fan leaves onto Milotic's head, but fortunately, there was a "cushion" layer.
It lowered its head and let out a muffled groan, "Milooo..."
The power of Lightning Flash being used like this is closely related to Swellow's Perseverance trait; the sleep state undoubtedly triggers this trait.
And when Milotic moved the tail tip to look at Swellow, that guy had already circled back in the sky, surprisingly flying with its eyes closed!
Amidst a series of exclamations, cameras raised their lenses to give Swellow a close-up, fully recording its feat of flying with closed eyes.
"Does this guy have a swift prototype..."
In Baimu's poor knowledge base, the only bird that can fly while sleeping is the swift.
Naqi continued to order, "Sleep-talking!"
The Swellow in the sky, as if reflexively, fell again at a ridiculous speed, but this time a sky-blue tufted airflow formed in front of it, much like an air wall generated by excessive speed.
Swallow Return!
Baimu raised an eyebrow, "Climbing Waterfall!"
"Milooo!"
A surge of water rose from beneath Milotic, lifting its body to collide with the diving Swellow in a hard-hitting stance.
But just before the impact, Naqi suddenly shouted.
"Quick, ascend!"
The descending Swellow, although still asleep, obediently raised its head, forcibly avoiding the collision—
The trick of Swallow Return lies in rapidly ascending after a swift descent, forming a large loop before launching a fierce attack, and Naqi used this procedure to evade the opponent's attack.
Unfailingly effective.
Only she didn't expect Milotic and Baimu to be prepared.
"We'll turn too!"
"Milooo!"
Milotic similarly raised its head, forcibly looping around until it connected with its lower half, turning into a large azure water ring, resembling a serpent biting its tail.
For one well-versed in various Gorgeous Competition transformations, such a small motion was nothing.
Elsewhere, Swellow spiraled in a vast arc and slammed firmly against Milotic!
Boom!
Smoke erupted, scattering the Pokémon to the sides.
Naqi frowned; she could make Swellow in sleep respond to commands, but it was limited, mostly relying on Swellow's subconscious reactions.
Ascending and descending were entirely rigorous training ingrained in its body over days and nights.
Just now, she aimed at Milotic's belly, never expecting it to have such a move!
Suddenly.
Naqi's frown relaxed, revealing a joyful look—
Swellow woke up!
"Screee!"
Swellow, nearly colliding with the Trainer's seat, widened its eyes, flapped its wings, and returned to the air. At first, it was a bit disoriented, but after glancing at its Trainer, it mostly understood the situation.
On the other side, the fallen Milotic was recalled by Baimu.
"Return!"
It wasn't suitable to battle such an agile opponent like Swellow currently, as its technique pool wasn't deep enough; learning more techniques later would ensure success.
"Happy!"
Blissey returned to the field.
Staff members saw it and started discussing.
"Such a decisive swap! Not trying Hypnosis Techniques anymore? I thought that strategy was good!"
"You don't understand, if Hypnosis Techniques don't meet the needs, a swap is definite!"
"Miss Naqi is in trouble; Baimu bringing Blissey back surely intends to use Gravity."
"Yes..."
As they said, Naqi felt a bit troubled now.
After finally enduring Gravity, she didn't want that awkward situation to reoccur, so she loudly called, "Don't let it use Gravity! Shadow Clone!"
"Screee!"
Swellow flapped its wings, transforming into a black shadow that shifted from one to two, two to four, rapidly multiplying into countless shadows charging toward Blissey.
"Magic Brilliance!"
"Happy!"
Blissey raised a small hand, its body abruptly lighting up like a bulb, emitting thorny energy beams in all directions, instantly destroying all of Swellow's shadows.
"Screee!"
The altered Swellow expanded its wings and retreated several meters facing the breeze from the front, comfortably staying outside Magic Brilliance's damage range.