Hi! It's me, Aurelia (a.k.a Mysterious Aureliashipper), and I am back with the FIRST chapter of Arty's Story. Now, this is a prequel to Dream of Becoming the Very Best, and it focuses on Artemis. This will surely not be as massive as that story will be, but it won't be Shorty either. BTW. Arty is in story 15. He is 22 in Dream of Becoming the Very Best. Just forget the statement that he looks like 19.

But now, enjoy.

He heard a crash from downstairs. And then, he heard his mother screaming. The four-year-old Arty stood up from his bed and ran downstairs. What he saw, is not explainable by using words. There was a lot of blood. He saw his mother bleeding. But worst, he saw a man standing with a knife ready to stab his mother again. The man stopped and looked at Arty.

"Well, what do we have here?" the man asked.

"Get away from my mother!" Arty yelled.

"She's already nothing but a dead corpse. Now, I'll kill you too!" the man said, and laughed like a maniac. His laugh stopped instant he saw Arty.

Arty was radiating some kind of energy. Aura. The man could see it in his emerald green eyes.

And then, it burst out.

It caused an explosion. Arty flew straight through the window. The explosion killed the murderer. The last thing Arty could see was their house burning in flames. Green flames of Aura.

Chapter 1

+10 years later

Mina was walking on towards Fallabor Town. She was a young woman at the age of 15. She had long brunette hair, blue eyes and she stood on 5 foot and one inch.

"Oh man, almost there!" she said to the Dratini on her shoulder. That actually was not so true. She still had about eight hours of walking before she would reach Fallabor. "But hey, I should always stay positive," she thought.

Dratini just nodded.

They continued walking for two hours. Then. "Wait, can you hear that?" Mina asked.

Dratini responded by looking at her confused.

"Again. Someone is battling here! I am sure of it!" she said and started running to where the noises were coming from.

She came to a clearing on the forest. There were two people battling. Other had a Zangoose, and the other had Sceptile.

The man with the Zangoose was clearly losing. His Zangoose looked exhausted and weak. On the other hand, the Sceptile looked perfectly fine.

"Now Sceptile, finish it with Leaf Blade!" the man with red pique shirt said.

"No! ZANGOOSE!"

Zangoose had fainted.

"Return Zangoose, we fought well," said Zangoose's trainer and walked away.

"Great job Sceptile, now please return." said the other trainer.

Mina was completely amazed by that battle. "Hey!"

The trainer turned towards her and she made eye contact. "I challenge you to a battle!" Mina said.

The Stranger looked confused at first, but said: "I don't have options, do I? Oh well, I accept."

"Great! I am Mina, and this is my partner Dratini!" she told and Dratini nodded.

"I'm Artemis."

"Nice to meet you Artemis. Now, the battle?" Mina asked, filled with excitement.

Artemis nodded and said: "Let's begin. 1on1?"

"Deal."

They walked to the opposite sides of the clearing. "Dratini, your turn!" Mina said, and her pokemon jumped on to the field.

"Go, Gardevoir!" Artemis said.

Change of Perspective

Artemis really was not expecting a battle right after the last one. But, he was up to it. Trainer with the Zangoose was no challenge at all. This would probably be neither. After all, Gardevoir was completely immune to Dragon-type attacks. So there was that. "You can start," Artemis said to the girl.

Mina smirked and said: "Bad decision. Flamethrower!"

Dratini fired off the Flamethrower, and it hit. Gardevoir, however, was not ready to go down.

"Moonblast!" Artemis ordered. Gardevoir nodded and fired off the Moonblast dealing massive amounts of damage.

"Hang in there Dratini! Let's use Surf!" said Mina.

"Teleport out of the way!" ordered Artemis, but too late. Surf already hit and Gardevoir took damage. "Gardevoir! Finish this off with another Moonblast!"

Gardevoir succeeded and Dratini fainted.

"Dratini!" Mina said and ran to help her pokemon. She gave it Max Revive that it would heal. Artemis then walked up to her. When Mina looked up and saw Artemis, she smiled and said: "Well, I guess you won."

"Yeah."

Artemis helped her to get up and asked: "So, where are you going now?"

Mina was surprised by the sudden question but said: "I am going to Fallarbor Town for the Pokemon Contest. How about you?"

"I am actually going to Fallabor too," he replied.

Mina was not expecting this, but the company was always welcome. "Are you taking part in the Contest?" she asked in disbelief.

"No, but someone will probably kill me if I don't come to watch it," he said with slight humor.

"Someone special?" asked Mina.

"What do you exactly mean, because I don't- Oh" look of understanding came to his face. "No, not in that kind of way. She's my cousin. And her boyfriend is the one who will most likely kill me or something like that if I don't come to watch her performance," he explained.

"I see. Well, do you mind traveling with me there?" she asked.

"No, I don't."

"Well, let's go then!"

"One thing."

"Yes?"

"Please call me Arty."

They walked for five hours and talked for the whole time. They had fun. Arty explained how his father died before Arty was born, and how his mother was murdered. So he was an orphan. Then he explained how he had moved to Alola where his Uncle lived, and stayed there with his Uncle and Arty's cousin Emily. Arty had taken part on the Island Challenge, but never finished it. Then Arty and Emily had decided to travel through Hoenn. Both of them wanted to be strong trainers, but Emily decided to only train Ice-type pokemon and take part in Pokemon Contests, and Arty wanted to collect Gym Badges.

"How many you have now?" asked Mina curiously.

"I have five, and the next stop after the contest will be Fortree City," he explained.

Then when she asked about Arty's pokemon, he told about them. Treecko which is now Sceptile was from Hoenn before he moved to Alola. There when he took part on Island challenge, he received Litten from Kahuna Hala, and it is now Incineroar. He also caught a wild Pichu which is now Pikachu. He explained that it wants to evolve into Raichu in Alola because it is its natural environment. Then, when he had returned to Hoenn, he found a female Ralts and caught it, and it is now Gardevoir.

In return, Mina told about how her parents were scientists working for the Devon Corporation. They had been very supportive when she decided to become a Coordinator. She and Dratini had been friends since she was six. Mina and her family found it on a beach badly hurt. They had saved Dratini's life. She also had an Eevee, a Swablu, and Mareep.

They continued walking, talking and laughing for six hours, and finally reached Fallabor.

It was already late. They walked inside the pokecenter. Then they gave their pokeballs to Nurse Joy and sat to wait.

"Hey Arty!"

Artemis and Mina turned to look where the voice came and saw a 14-year-old girl with long hair, waving towards them.

"Hi, Emily," Artemis replied. "How is it going?"

"It has been great," she quickly responded. "And before you ask, yes, Nathan has been good to me. You know you don't have to ask that."

"I know. And you should know that I trust Nathan with my life. But that doesn't change the fact that I am protective of you," he replied.

"Overprotective some might say," said a boy who had just walked up to them. He had red hair and a red hoodie. Mina even through her laughing could tell that the boy was a fire-type trainer.

As Mina was laughing, Emily noticed her. "Oh Arty, you have made a big mistake. This will be fun," she thought with a mischievous smile. "Oh, and who is she Arty?" she asked.

"Oh no," was the only thought in Arty's mind.

"I am Mina," said Mina and shook hands with Emily.

"Arty is she someone important?" asked Nathan who had realized what Emily was going to say. "You know maybe like a-"

"No," replied Artemis while rapidly shaking his head.

"Am I what?" asked Mina in total confusion.

"Are you," Emily started and Arty facepalmed. "Are you Arty's girlfriend?" she asked.

Mina's jaw dropped and she started to blush madly. She had thought if Arty was a single, but not that far. "N-no, we actually met just today," she said. She was so thankful that Arty could not see her blush through the facepalm.

"See?" asked Artemis.

"I thought for a second that you had finally-" started Nathan but was cut off by Arty.

"Can we change the topic, please?" he asked.

Emily and Nathan thought about it for a second. "Yes, we can," said Emily. Mina's blush did not go unnoticed by Emily. "Are you by any changes, Mina, taking part on the Contest?" she asked.

"Yes I am actually," she replied, now recovered from the question's aftermath.

"Well, I hope you are good. How many ribbons?" Emily asked.

"Two. You?" asked Mina.

"I have four."

Mina was not expecting that much. "So if you win, it is your last ribbon needed?" she asked in astonishment

"Yes, it is," Emily answered and smiled.

"Well, I am still going to give my best shot!" said Mina.

"Good. Now excuse us, we're going to our room to rest. Bye!" Emily said. Then she and Nathan started walking towards the rooms.

"One thing!" said Arty.

Emily and Nathan turned to listen.

"Don't do anything inappropriate," said Arty and walked to pick his pokemon.

"Come on!"

"That's karma for you," Arty said to Mina with a little smile. "I am going to go sleep now. Good night!"

"Goodnight Arty!" she said as Arty walked towards the rooms. "I? Like a girlfriend?" she thought. "What a joke."

Mina was excited. She had wakened up really soon. Then she had gone to eat breakfast and train. Artemis joined her to train. They had fun, and the contest was getting close.

Arty went to get his stand with Nathan, while Mina and Emily went to get ready.

When Artemis and Nathan found their stands, the show was already beginning.

The host walked to the stage. "Welcome everybody! I am your host in today's Pokemon Contest! Now, our first contestant, Dalia!"

The contest went on and Arty was kind of bored. They were ok, but not amazing, with Emily's show where she used her partner Alolan Ninetales along with her Glaceon was an exception. But then.

"Now for our last contestant, welcome, Mina!"

Mina walked to the stage and Arty had to admit it. She looked great. No, more like beautiful. She wore a short skirt and her hair was openly falling on her back.

"You should not stare her like that, you're almost already drooling," said Nathan and deserved a death glare from Artemis.

"I am not! You had that kind of face when Emily was performing."

"Yes, but she is my girlfriend," replied Nathan.

"And you are a perv so-" then Arty silenced when Mina began.

"Dratini, Eevee, Let's do this!" she said and two pokemon jumped on the stage. "Dragon Breath and Swift!" The two pokemon moves clashed making purple flake floating in the air. "Eevee, Baby Doll Eyes!". Eevee turned towards the judges and used the move. "And now, both of you! Attract!".

"What did she do?" asked Nathan silently.

"Look! Those pokemon are from different gender! They fell in love with each other. Now they can not hurt each other!" Arty replied.

Mina's show was a success. She advanced to the next round along with Emily. That

Mina's show was a success. She advanced to the next round along with Emily. That means they're going to have a Contest Battle.

"And now, second round. Emily against Mina. Begin!"

Emily sent out her Alolan Ninetales while Mina sent out her Dratini.

"Ninetails, Dazzling Gleam!" ordered Emily.

"Dodge it, then Flamethrower!" said Mina.

Dratini was able to dodge it and successfully hit the Flamethrower.

"Damn, her Dratini is strong. I think I have only one option," Emily thought. "Ninetales! We are going all out!" she said.

Ninetails nodded and prepared.

"What is she doing?" thought Mina when Emily showed her bracelet that had some kind of crystal in it.

Meanwhile, both Artemis and Nathan thought the same. "Oh no."

"Ninetales!" said Emily and did X with her hands. "Our power will be strong enough to win. Ninetales, SUBZERO SLAMMER!" she said and Ninetales launched its Z-Move.

It was more than enough to take Dratini down. "Battle Off!" yelled the host and Emily received her last Ribbon.

When Emily had changed she noticed that Mina was down. She was going to comfort her, but someone beat her to that.

"Did you noticed Arty too?" asked Nathan.

"Yes, I did," she replied.

Arty walked towards where Mina was sitting and crying. "Hi."

Mina looked up and saw Artemis. "Hi."

"A-are you alright?" asked Arty.

Mina was surprised. First, about the sheer care in Árty's voice, second, about how broken Arty's voice was, and third, about the fact that he asked that from her. He truly wanted to know if Mina was alright. "I am fine it's just…"

"I know," he replied and sat next to Mina. I remember when I lost my first match. It was against Akala island's Kahuna Olivia. I was down. But then I realized that there's always a second chance."

"Thank you."

"Huh?" said Arty.

"Thank you for this. Now, the next contest is in Lilycove City and Fortree is on the way."

Arty looked at her and realized what she was saying. "Do you mean?"

"Yes, I would like to travel with you. Is it okay?" asked Mina.

Arty didn't have to consider one bit.

"Yes, yes it is."

A/N Wow! I am genuinely proud of this chapter as a first chapter. I have to give my apologies for the terrible Pokemon Contest scene. I suck at those. But as always remember to review, it helps a lot. But now, it is Mysterious Aureliashipper Logging out once again!"