Misty's unexpected success in passing the trial also caught Wikstrom somewhat by surprise.
He immediately instructed one of the staff members to take Misty aside, record her body measurements, and contact the family so they could rush the production of a custom-made set of women's knight's armor for her.
Meanwhile, the Knight Trial continued.
With Misty's trial concluded, the staff member called the next participant.
Tierno became the fourth challenger to step forward.
"The trial begins!"
With the announcement, the fourth trial officially started.
Tierno gripped his prop knight's sword and immediately charged toward Wikstrom.
"Good! Come at me!"
Wikstrom shouted enthusiastically as he drew his own sword and quickly moved to meet Tierno's attack.
The two swordsmen immediately clashed.
"Bang! Bang!"
"Clang! Clang!"
Tierno wasn't a Psychic, nor did he possess swordsmanship as refined and profound as Ash's.
However, Tierno had a dream of becoming a professional dancer, and because of that, he had trained his body extensively.
Although Tierno's body looked round and somewhat chubby, he was actually an extremely agile person despite his size.
He also possessed considerable strength and tremendous stamina.
Even though his sword swings lacked any real technique or structure, the sheer ferocity of his attacks was surprisingly impressive.
Especially with Wikstrom deliberately holding back, Tierno was actually performing even better than Misty had in the previous trial.
Whenever Wikstrom attacked, Tierno would block and deflect the strikes while simultaneously using his agility to evade.
The moment Wikstrom's offensive momentum weakened, Tierno would immediately seize the opening and launch a sudden, explosive counterattack.
For a while, the battle between the two was unexpectedly spectacular.
Tierno had successfully managed to keep Wikstrom occupied.
But inside the castle, the battle between the two Pokémon chasing after Klefki was a completely different story.
Tierno's Pokémon for this trial was Poliwhirl, whose strength was at an advanced level, just short of the Elite level—Lv. 38, with a base Speed stat of 90.
As it chased Klefki, Poliwhirl repeatedly fired attacks at Wikstrom's Pokémon.
Water Gun!
Mud Shot!
Bubble Beam!
Every so often, it would turn around and use Hypnosis to interfere with and control its opponent.
In theory, Tierno's Poliwhirl should have performed even better than Misty's Marill from the previous trial.
After all, just like Tierno himself, Poliwhirl had considerable advantages.
But reality turned out to be completely different.
Inside the Castle of Chivalry, Poliwhirl wasn't gaining the upper hand.
It was actually being suppressed by Wikstrom's Pokémon.
The reason was simple.
It was the Pokémon Wikstrom had chosen for this trial.
Yes.
For each trial, Wikstrom had deliberately changed the Pokémon he used.
The first trial had featured Aegislash.
The second trial had featured Escavalier.
The third trial had featured Probopass.
And now, for the fourth trial, Wikstrom had sent out the evolved form of Scyther—
Scizor, the Bug- and Steel-type Pokémon.
Among Wikstrom's main battle lineup, Scizor might not have been the strongest Pokémon in terms of overall level.
But to the Trainers participating in the trial, every Pokémon Wikstrom sent out was an overwhelmingly powerful opponent.
Each of Wikstrom's Pokémon possessed a level of strength and combat ability far beyond what the challengers could normally contend with.
Therefore, during the Knight Trial, Wikstrom had no choice but to suppress their actual strength.
If they were allowed to fight at full power, Aegislash, Escavalier, Probopass, and Scizor might have differed in overall strength, but once their levels were suppressed to match the challengers' Pokémon, that difference disappeared.
Under those conditions, none of Wikstrom's Pokémon could be considered inherently stronger or weaker.
The real difference was their combat role and ability matchup.
If the Pokémon Wikstrom selected happened to counter the challenger's strengths, then it would naturally be an extremely difficult opponent.
Conversely, if its combat characteristics were countered by the challenger's Pokémon, then the Pokémon Wikstrom had chosen would naturally appear much weaker.
Take the second trial as an example.
Wikstrom had sent out Escavalier against Ash's Fearow and suppressed Escavalier's strength to the same level as Fearow.
But Escavalier possessed an enormous weakness in Speed.
And Speed happened to be Fearow's greatest strength.
Therefore, even though the two Pokémon were fighting at the same level, Ash's side could still win with relative ease.
Misty's battle in the previous trial was similar.
Marill didn't actually have a clear advantage in overall ability against Probopass.
However, Probopass was essentially a slow, cumbersome powerhouse.
Its raw combat ability was extremely formidable, but against a small and adorable Pokémon like Marill, it had almost no way to resist Marill's charm-based tactics.
Therefore, both Ash's battle against Escavalier and Misty's battle against Probopass could be described as favorable ability matchups.
Once they understood their respective strengths and weaknesses, they could simply use their own strengths to attack their opponents' weaknesses.
That was how they ultimately succeeded.
But this trial was different.
Tierno's Poliwhirl had very little advantage when facing Wikstrom's Scizor.
Scizor's speed was on an entirely different level from Poliwhirl's.
The Water Gun, Mud Shot, and Bubble Beam that Poliwhirl launched were easily avoided by Scizor.
When Poliwhirl attempted to use Hypnosis as a control move, Scizor immediately countered with Scary Face, disrupting Poliwhirl's movements before striking back with Bug Buzz.
The attack blasted Poliwhirl backward.
The battle quickly became extremely difficult for Tierno's Pokémon.
Poliwhirl wasn't completely without a chance against Scizor.
There were still certain aspects of the matchup that could potentially be exploited.
But without Tierno there to command it, Poliwhirl clearly wasn't capable of overcoming Scizor on its own.
Outside the castle, Tierno and Wikstrom were still locked in a fierce and exciting sword fight.
Inside the Castle of Chivalry, however, the battle between Poliwhirl and Scizor was almost completely one-sided.
The chase didn't last long.
Before long, Scizor defeated Poliwhirl.
Tierno himself had not yet been defeated.
But when he saw Scizor emerge from the castle carrying Poliwhirl, which had already lost the ability to battle, Tierno immediately understood.
His trial was over.
He had failed.
"Trainer Trevor, please step forward and begin your trial."
After Tierno's failure, Wikstrom took a few minutes to rest.
Then the fifth and final trial of the afternoon's Knight Trial event began.
This would also be the final trial of the entire day's event.
"Mr. Wikstrom, please take care of me."
Trevor politely greeted Wikstrom before gripping his prop knight's sword and taking the initiative to attack.
Compared with Tierno, Trevor was much more reserved.
He was also better at thinking things through.
He clearly understood both his strengths and weaknesses.
In fact, before even stepping onto the field, Trevor had already spent time thinking carefully about his strategy.
Now, as he entered the trial with his Pokémon, the advantage of his preparation and tactical thinking quickly began to reveal itself.