Although the sleep status persisted, Spore took effect instantly, with no ongoing sensory feedback.
"No, I judged from your behavior." Ilima handed him a bottle of mineral water. "Your very last action before falling asleep showed no struggle whatsoever, and your expression showed neither distress nor regret. Instead, you recalled Lilligant."
Shen Qi had recalled Lilligant because Grass-type Pokémon were immune to powder moves and would not be put to sleep by Spore.
That meant that if Shen Qi and Blissey fell asleep while Lilligant remained outside, Lilligant would have every means to wake her companions, and their opponent would never completely lower his guard.
So, to make the act more convincing, Shen Qi had recalled Lilligant before falling asleep.
He had never expected Ilima to catch that tiny detail and deduce that he was pretending to sleep.
"Impressive."
"During field operations, observation and judgment are often more important than raw fighting strength."
Ilima pointed at Shen Qi. "Now it's my turn to ask you."
"Hmm?"
"How did you manage to surround us instead?"
During the trial, the examiner held the advantage.
The Trial-taker had to find the Pokémon that needed protecting—the little dinosaur plushies—while the examiner playing the Poacher could lie in ambush near the plushies and attack.
Ilima had reached the plushie nearest Shen Qi's route first and determined that no Pokémon or other traps had been deployed nearby beforehand.
After he saw through Shen Qi's strategy of pretending to sleep, the encirclement Ilima had established first had itself been surrounded. It really was bizarre.
"Hahaha... it was actually my Style Technique. I can send Poké Balls a long way off and open them without having to move much."
It sounded extremely sophisticated, but Shen Qi had not gone into detail.
All he had done was use [Severed