AN: Hey, it's Primordial Soul. And yes, Altomare Ace is back in a new and improved form.

As I was writing this chapter, I took the time to change some things up. This is not going to be the same story you've read before. Plot wise or style wise.

I stayed up for quite a while working on this chapter. Roommate kept me up with his antics with a girl. :|

This rewrite is planned to have shorter chapters than the original story so I can more easily write them. All chapters will be from Ash's point of view expect for Interludes which will have the POV of another character to give context to the universe.

Well, now. I know people have waited literal months, maybe even a year for another chapter of my writing. So here it is! Enjoy!

Prince of Champions

Exordium 1.1

Written by Primordial Soul

"Arceus, look at this! Everyone look at this! This is incredible!"

"Gallade is dancing around this Umbreon! Just dancing! I've never seen anything like this in my life!"

"Ryan can't do anything! He's powerless! This is a slaughter! 4 down for the challenger already! Without a single pokemon lost for the Prince!"

"I think this match is already over,"

The flashes of thousands of cameras, the bright lights, the screaming . The screams of one hundred thousand. The weight of millions of viewers. The chaos of battle. The knowledge that you were the subject of most of the world's attention.

It makes me feel ALIVE.

"Umbreon, Shadow Ball! Then Wish!"

Gallade doesn't hesitate. Moving nary a meter, he twists his way around the ball of darkness, skating across the icy field like a practiced dancer. A performer.

He flicks his arms as he slides to the left, firing two blades of Aura at the Umbreon. The quadruped was forced to abort the Wish, crouching down and spinning like a top to avoid the Aura Blades.

Gallade was quick to capitalize on the Umbreon's immobility, letting loose a barrage of Aura Spheres as he pushed off the icy ground towards the vulpine, red eyes narrowed on his vulnerable target. The Umberon, having lost its momentum, was subjected to multiple hits by the damaging spheres. The Umbreon, weakened as it was from the damage it had sustained from earlier, finally relented and fainted.

"That Gallade is unstoppable!"

"I knew that it was shiny for a reason!"

He's learned a lot. I'm proud of him. He's a damned good physical sweeper and a fantastic student.

And a brother to me in all but blood.

I could see the challenger, Ryan, scowl in dismay as he returned his Umbreon. Understandable. He had lost five pokemon to three of mine without taking out a single one. When I was younger, I would have felt the same.

But still. It was disappointing to battle someone who performed this poorly.

"I'm not going to be swept." Ryan stated quietly, bringing the entire stadium to silence as they listened to his every word. "I'm not going to lose like this. I made it here to a reason,"

"I don't see anything," I speak up, the seventh time this battle I idly recall. "You're nothing special. Right now, all I see is a lucky kid. Someone who only had luck on their side wouldn't have made it here today, let alone normally through the Royal Line. So, show me what you've got!"

The crowd roared in response to my words, driven to a frenzy to see something incredible. Ryan's eyes hardened, hurt by my words and determined to prove me wrong.

Good. Maybe he'll be interesting.

"Go, Aggron!"

A seven-foot tall, half ton scaly metal dinosaur emerged from the ball, landing on the ice with a loud crack. The Aggron roared, causing the crowd to scream even louder in excitement.

I shook my head. Horrible choice for an ice field. Too heavy and weak towards the field itself. He'll be punished for this bad choice of a final pokemon. Fighting an Aggron here gave me too many options. I could already see the plans, the things I could do with a simple thought and a little effort. Oooh, that would be fun…

Gallade shifted his body, lowering his center of mass and bringing his blades up in an en garde position, preparing himself for another bout. His head tilted slightly as he twitched his fingers, a silent question hidden from Ryan's view by Gallade's body.

"Gauntlet?"

I rotate my right hand ninety degrees and form a half fist, indicating my approval. That would do nicely.

The audience wants a show? I'll give them one.

"This next match will be Aggron versus Gallade. No limitations." The judge, a fairly pudgy man moving into his later stages of life, called out. "Let the battle begin!"

Aggron brought its leg up and brought it down as soon as the judge finished his sentence. A powerful Earthquake followed, sending tremors throughout the field and ice shards flying. Gallade had already moved though, skating towards a large forest of ice pillars, generated by Ryan's fainted Walrein earlier in the match. The Blade Pokemon twisted and weaved and flew through the air, making it to an ice pillar before the tremors hit.

The ground shook, forcing Gallade to latch on to the pillar he had landed on to prevent himself from falling. Aggron capitalized on this, casting Iron Defense and Automotize before the Earthquake ended.

Ryan smiled, glad that his opening had managed to work perfectly. "Aggron, continuous Earthquake!"

So that's how he was going to play it. Stay out of range and deal massive area of effect damage that would be almost impossible to miss.

So disappointing.

Gallade didn't need orders. He jumped off the pillar he was on just as the next Earthquake hit, shattering the ice and sending chucks of ice sky-high. Gallade landed on a nearby pillar and jumped to another pillar as the second Earthquake hit.

The ice floor cracked and continued to split as Aggron released Earthquake after Earthquake to trap Gallade on the ground. Gallade continued jumping on to nearby pillars, Swords Dancing every time he was in the air.

"Look at that skill! That precision! That control!"

"He's even making it look beautiful!"

The ice chucks in the air refracted the light of the noon sun, causing the air to glitter and sparkle. Gallade danced through the specs, dodging the Aggron's Earthquakes with calculated ease. The speckles of ice parted in Gallade's path, creating a slight rainbow that followed the Blade Pokemon.

It was beautiful.

But there were only so many pillars standing.

Gallade finally reached the last pillar, the last one standing on the field from the previous match. As Aggron brought its foot down, shattering the last pillar, Gallade jumped into the air towards Aggron, red eyes blazing in determination.

Ryan smirked. "Aggron, Shadow Claw!"

Aggron brought its arm back, glowing with dark energy and swung the super effective move at Gallade. As the Blade Pokemon fell, he tucked himself into a ball, dodging the Shadow Claw that passed underneath him. Gallade then unfolded himself and assaulted the Iron Armor Pokemon's head with a single Close Combat punch.

It was a known fact that Aggron was extremely weak against fighting moves as localized physical hits could break their steel armor, leaving their insides vulnerable. A Close Combat is one of the strongest physical fighting moves known, capable of dealing massive damage at the expense of leaving the user open for retaliation.

A Gallade is naturally physically adept, so much so that it was in the top 25 pokemon in physical strength. Close Combat shared a type with Gallade, further boosting the damage done by Close Combat. This Gallade was the pinnacle of its species and extremely well trained and experienced, ensuring its massive capability for physical damage.

Gallade had used Swords Dance three times, quadrupling his damage output.

So, taking into account all of the above and considering Aggron's increased defense, Gallade delivered almost 1,100 damage for one non-critical hit.

In one punch all focused at Aggron's face.

Aggron was blown off its feet, sent sailing by the force, broken teeth marking his former position. The Iron Armor Pokemon crashed into the wall, obviously fainted and heavily wounded by the cracked head plating it now sported.

The audience screamed in excitement, shock and horror.

Ryan gasped and ran up to the fallen Aggron, whispering comforts and returning the pokemon to its ball. He then turned and rushed away to the pokemon center, but not before giving me a look full of anger.

I ignored him as the judge called the match in my favor. He wasn't interesting. He wasn't strong.

He wasn't important anymore.

Gallade trotted over to my side, eyes expressing satisfaction at another battle won. I took his right arm with my own and pulled him into a one-armed hug, pleased at his performance.

"You did great" I said, releasing him after a couple of seconds. "You've grown far."

Gallade smiled and replied softly, "I have a good master."

The two of us turned and walked out of the stadium, walking into the prep room provided by the staff so that trainers could talk and plan with their pokemon right before the match.

Once we were fully inside the room, I gestured my arm, sporting my state of the art Battle Manager, and released the other five pokemon of the team I was running with today.

Sceptile was the first to emerge, his green form tense and ready to fight. As soon as he realized that we were no longer fighting, he relaxed, pulling a twig out and putting it in his mouth. I chuckled at the nostalgia he brought before shaking my head, pushing the feelings down deep within my heart.

That didn't exist anymore.

Blastoise followed, the giant turtle smacking its fist together in excitement and pleasure as he realized that they had won. Blastoise had been one of the two other pokemon I had used in the match, expertly taking down a pesky Charizard that had emerged to counter the third pokemon I had used in the previous match.

It was amusing to think that Ryan thought I would be unprepared for such tactic.

Rotom was the third, already dancing around and laughing while he mildly shocked his pokemon for amusement. His pokemon grumbled, but were perfectly okay with the youngest's antics.

Seeing him reminded me that I still had to thank Samuel for giving him to me.

It's been four years since I last spoke to him. And I don't intend on changing that.

Ninjask was fourth, hovering in place as she curiously examined the room. She had been my lead in the match against Ryan, taking down his Skarmory before Baton Passing to Blastoise when facing Ryan's Charizard.

Solrock was fifth, the sun shaped pokemon spinning in contentment. He was one of my more recent catches and I brought him along to experience the logistics of a tournament style match. He already knew he wasn't going to be fighting today.

Gallade was my last and best. The Blade Pokemon had been with me since the beginning when I embarked on the path I still followed. He was my partner, my trainee, my brother. He was the strongest pokemon I regularly used and it showed in the way he moved, fought and flowed. We had gone through so much together including … Pikachu. The Soul. Betrayal.

Just like me and her.

Just the idle thought of her brought her appearance to the forefront of my mind. I could vividly imagine the sleek draconic form she sported, the gleaming red and white fur, the amber eyes full of love and compassion for me alone. The thought alone filled me with happiness, a quench for her touch and presence. I could imagine flying with her, kissing her, coming together in glorious union…

A shock brought me out of my dreams, Rotom sniggering at my obviously affronted face as he shocked me. The rest of my pokemon followed suit, leaving me as the butt of a very common joke.

"Very funny everyone," I dryly state, bringing the noise to a screeching halt as well as my face back to its normal stoic look. "Nice of you to pick on the only one with a mate." My pokemon sighed at the unfortunately correct statement and waited for me to continue.

"We've won today," I began, pacing back and forth. "We've won yet again, after four years of holding this position. Holding this line against those who would use it for their own well-being. The sacrifices of the many are not in vain."

"It's been four years since the Soul fell. Four years of clean-up, of triumph, of watchful vigilance. We've made a name for ourselves and we're known as the strongest team alive."

"But we must keep our vigil. We must stand strong. Remnants of our enemies remain and we must be ready to head the call."

I turn to face them, my mouth twisting in a smirk. "And once we do, the world will know the power of the Prince of Champions."

His pokemon roared, moved by the short speech I had just gave to them. I nodded and returned all but Gallade to my Battle Manager. Gallade simply stuck to my side as a shadow as I left the prep room for the wider world.

And walked right into chaos.

"Prince, what do you have to say about the match? Yet another stellar success."

"It is rumored that allegations are being made against your person for the reckless endangerment and bodily harm of the pokemon you use and fight against. Do you fear reprisal for your actions?"

"It's been almost four years since the disappearance of the previous Prince of Champions Benjamin Ambrose. Do you have anything to say in your predecessor's memory?"

"You don't care for pokemon! Look at what you did to that Aggron! It may never be able to battle again!"

"Altomare has flourished since you moved there, the city experiencing an economic boom only previously seen in Benjamin's home of Forever City. How did a man like yourself do that?"

"How could you crush that poor kid like you did? That was harsh. The kid's dream was having the chance to face you in the Charity Exhibition and you just stomped him like he was an inconvenience."

The rapid fire of questions, the number of bodies pressing against the barricade the police put up, the compliments, the complaints, the accusations, caused me to scowl and turn cold, my heart retreating inside my body.

Who were they to condemn me? Who gave them the right to judge me?

They haven't lived what I lived through.

I ignored them all, Gallade assisting me in pushing through the crowd of police to reach the car that would take us to our temporary residence in Judicator City.

But before we could leave and be free of this chaos, one voice rang out amongst the others.

"Prince of Champions Ash Ketchum! What do you have to say for yourself!"

I stopped, slowly turning to face the brave soul who spoke my name. It was a young man, easily just out of school, looking to make a quick story.

I stared him down, my red eyes glaring at this head. He gulped and began to sweat, finally realizing it was a bad idea to provoke me.

Kids these days.

"No comment," I tersely replied, silencing the crowd with my voice. I turned and stepped into the car, Gallade sitting next to me. Once the door was closed, he leaned against my left shoulder, his hand rubbing my thigh to provide me comfort.

"It's going to be okay, Ash" Gallade muttered. "Everything is going to be okay."

I was thankful for the gesture as the card started and sped off into the sunset.

Fin 1.1