"Huuff... huuff..."
"Heave-ho... heave-ho..."
As the trial continued, the Trainers who had sprinted at full speed from the very beginning gradually began turning red in the face and gasping heavily for breath. Their pace also began to decline sharply, slowing down more and more.
In contrast, Ash and the others had deliberately started at the very back of the main group. Because they had not hurriedly accelerated at the beginning, they had preserved a considerable amount of stamina. Moreover, Ash and the others possessed excellent physical fitness to begin with. As the people ahead of them slowed down one after another, Ash's group, which had maintained a steady pace all along, quickly caught up and overtook them.
Before even completing the first lap, Ash had already gone from the very back of the line to the very front.
Up on the castle's viewing balcony, Elite Four Member Wikstrom, who had been paying close attention to Ash from the very beginning, could not help but nod secretly.
Although the trial had only just begun and this was merely the first lap, with the real test yet to start, the strategy and pacing Ash had demonstrated already revealed enough to impress a veteran like Wikstrom.
Although being a Pokémon Trainer was fundamentally a profession centered around commanding Pokémon, in Wikstrom's eyes, a Trainer absolutely could not focus solely on training their Pokémon. Training the Trainer themselves was equally important. In fact, sometimes it was precisely this that separated an ordinary Trainer from a high-level Trainer.
There was no doubt that Ash was an exceptionally outstanding Trainer.
His excellence was not merely reflected in the strength of the Pokémon under his command—it was also reflected in Ash himself.
"Wow!! Ash is incredible! I remember he was the last one to start running earlier. I can't believe he has somehow already rushed all the way to the front."
"Yeah! I never expected that Ash's Pokémon would be so powerful, and that he himself would be this strong too."
"Exactly. He's truly worthy of being the famous star genius Trainer known throughout the Kanto Region. I guess this is what they mean when they say that a reputation isn't built on empty words."
"Mhm, I feel like Ash isn't just handsome—his physical fitness is amazing too. If I could become his girlfriend, I bet I'd be incredibly happy—"
"Forget it. Ash already has someone."
"Not only that, Ash has three girlfriends."
"Wow! As expected of Ash. He's seriously amazing!"
"..."
"..."
Looking down from the castle balcony, everyone could see Ash running lap after lap around the Castle of Chivalry, leaving the others far behind. The people behind him were already panting heavily, yet Ash himself did not even appear flushed or out of breath.
The spectators gathered on the castle's viewing balcony could not help but burst into exclamations of admiration.
"Ash, keep going!" Hearing the Trainers around them praising Ash, Clarissa and Serena, who were also standing at the edge of the viewing balcony and looking down at the trial participants, both had slightly flushed cheeks. They excitedly yet bashfully cheered Ash on.
"Ash is amazing. Compared with him, my brother is simply terrible."
Seeing Ash, who had started at the same time as everyone else yet had already charged into first place, then looking at her brother Clemont, who remained at the very back like a permanent last-place runner, Bonnie puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
"..."
"..."
Regardless of what the spectators on the castle's viewing balcony were discussing, the people currently participating in the trial below had neither the time nor the energy to pay attention to them.
As the end of the first lap approached, just when the trial participants were preparing to breathe a small sigh of relief, suddenly—
"Bang~!"
"Roar~!"
Under the astonished gazes of the participants, a Probopass suddenly leaped down from the castle wall.
Then, it used Magnet Pull against the exhausted trial participants below.
The iron plates attached to the front and back of the weighted vests they were wearing instantly came under the influence of the magnetic force.
The participants who had been running forward suddenly felt an enormous pulling force dragging them backward.
For a moment, the trial participants seemed as though they had fallen into a swamp. Every step forward became extraordinarily difficult.
They had already expended a tremendous amount of stamina after completing the first lap, and even running normally had become extremely taxing. Now, under Probopass's magnetic pull, they immediately found themselves struggling to move even a single step.
Some participants whose stamina had already been nearly exhausted and whose running speed had fallen dramatically were affected even more severely. Not only could they no longer move forward, they were actually dragged backward by the magnetic force.
"Brother!!"
"Clemont!!"
Seeing Clemont being continuously pulled backward by the magnetic force until he finally fell flat on his backside, Bonnie and the others on the castle balcony immediately became worried.
Clemont then looked toward the front of the trial group.
At that moment, he happened to meet the concerned and worried gazes of Ash and the others, who had also turned around to look at him.
"Clemont, are you all right?" Ash called out from a distance.
"Ash, you guys keep running. Don't worry about me. Completing one lap is already my limit. I'm giving up here."
"Ash..." Hearing Clemont's words, Misty, who was right behind him, cast him a questioning glance.
"In that case, Clemont, go rest first," Ash said after hearing that Clemont had chosen to withdraw.
Ash did not try to stop him.
This afternoon's Knight Trial had never held much significance for Clemont in the first place. He had only signed up because, as the Lumiose Gym Leader, he wanted to show some respect to Wikstrom, his superior in the Pokémon League.
Furthermore, there was no truly substantial reward for completing this trial. If there had been some genuinely important reward at stake, then even if Clemont could not complete the trial himself, Ash, as his friend, would have found a way to help him finish it.
That was precisely why Ash did not stop Clemont when he chose to give up.
After Clemont completed the first lap and withdrew, Ash's little group was now reduced to Ash, Misty, Tierno, and Trevor.
The trial continued.
And one had to remember—this was only the first lap.
The requirement for the first trial was to run ten full laps.
They had completed merely one-tenth of the required distance.
However, this trial naturally presented almost no difficulty for Ash.
Even with Probopass releasing its magnetic force to create resistance for the participants, neither Ash nor Fearow's speed was affected in the slightest.
Under the influence of the magnetic field, Ash and Fearow continued moving forward at a steady pace.
Misty, Tierno, and Trevor were also not affected very much.
The ones truly suffering were the other participants whose physical fitness and stamina were mediocre to begin with, especially those who had foolishly sprinted at full speed right from the start.
Now that they were being dragged backward by Probopass's magnetic force, it was hard to say how much longer some of them could continue.
Fortunately, Probopass did not maintain its magnetic interference indefinitely.
The magnetic force lasted for only around a minute before it was finally canceled.
The trial participants collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
But when they raised their heads and looked ahead, they discovered that Ash, Misty, Tierno, and Trevor had already pulled nearly half a lap ahead of them.
The pressure that had just been relieved immediately surged back into their hearts.