My heart broke. I was just beginning to make friendships, even with a Ho-oh, we were told the whole reason we were here: to test who was the strongest.

The next few years of my life were fairly uneventful. My days were spent training until my body was about to break under the pressure. Some days I would dive to the deepest trenches of the ocean, to train under heavy pressure and gravity. Other days, my training would be enemy based. I went and submerged myself in water from Antarctica to get used to ice attack induced hypothermia, or I would train inches close to lava floors in volcanos, helping me learn evasion and dealing with burns. I even flew through dangerous thunderstorms to figure out how to deflect them.

All of these had similar strategies. I learned an essential survival technique would be mastering my control over water. I had studied in my free time I had at the academy, where I had learned about a few ancient Lugia techniques. Improvising from that knowledge, I learned how to bend water to my will. I found how to draw water from the air around me, how to surround myself in a bubble of water, and even heal myself with that water. And if need be, I learned how to fire a novice hydro pump. The attack wouldn't be very effective by itself, but it would serve as a distraction and as an emergency source of water.

Water could act as an emergency shield from fire, could protect me from the ice attacks of Articuno, and if used correctly, be detached from myself when lightning struck me, and fired back at Zapdos or another legendary bird. There were many risks with my plans. I had to think of backups for everything.

That's where my nights came into play. While everyone else would be sleeping, I spent as much of my night as I could afford meditating. Not only did it train my psychic abilities, but it also helped me think of strategies I never considered. And it helped me think of things that were more important than training.

"Poor guys..." I thought to myself. "We've been training so long and so hard, and none of them are used to it. I know Arceus wants to test our leadership, but leadership is more than power and control. I should go encourage them tomorrow."

The reception of my words had mixed feelings. Articuno and Zapdos thanked me for the encouragement, but feared punishment from Arceus. Then Moltres and Ho-oh completely rejected my sympathies and help. I couldn't blame them; Arceus was playing with their minds. Times like these, I was glad Arceus left me alone for the most part. He knew how much discipline I had, and the abilities I had. Frequently, he'd pull me aside to verify if I was spending my time wisely. His expressions were hard to read, but he never had anything negative to say. Every time, it was my personal goal to catch him off guard, so that he couldn't hide his astonishment.

...

The first year of training went by fast. I spent it mastering my abilities on water, with psychic training where I could fit it in. The next year was completely devoted to psychic training and Lugia specific techniques, like Aeroblast. A frequent exercise would involve me lifting a heavy mass of water or earth from the bottom of the ocean with my psychic abilities, and blasting it with an Aeroblast, as far and as hard as possible. But a growing eeriness grew over me. Would our tournament be one on one, or would it be a free for all? I had to prepare for all circumstances. I just hoped that he didn't make the rules too dangerous. I didn't want anyone to die. The thought tore at my heart.

During the second year of training, my meditation revolved around how I would get around an out of hand match. My only option was obvious. I had to put my all into every attack, finish the fight and their will to continue as fast as possible.

Times like these I wondered if the Legendary powers of Lugias existed. A myth was passed down from generation to generation, about a chosen hero of the Lugias. Drawing on the power and knowledge of his ancestors, this Lugia would be able to fight off any adversary with ease.

Then, my memories of my parents' death were suddenly clear; I remembered everything. I understood why I heard their voices. It wasn't rage or hallucinations. I had done it; I had claimed that legendary transformed state.

The few years we had left, I spent training everything I could think of; a sort of comprehensive schedule, if you will. Frequently, I tried to replicate the emotions I was going through, to transform, but it was no use. After days of meditation, I realized that my powers were too great for me to handle, and would only reveal themselves again if they were absolutely essential.

Arceus came up to me one night. He watched me curiously during one of my breaks. "Are you alright?" he asked, in a very emotionless tone.

"I'll be fine... That last attack I did just drained me a little." I said, my breathing was heavy and slow, my face drenched with sweat.

Arceus chuckled. "So I see. Mind showing me what you can do, then?" Arceus' stare was skeptical. He must have thought I was weak for letting one attack drain me.

"Sure." I smirked. Today would be the day that I tore off that curtain that hid his inner emotions. I raised my wings and my eyes glowed in a bright purple as the earth began to shake. Arceus shook his head.

"So you can make a magnitude 7 earthquake. Honestly I'm qui-" his words stopped mid syllable as he saw a mass of earth bigger than Mt. Coronet, surrounded by a huge mass of water. I lowered my wings, the mass staying in the air with little effort. I glanced over at Arceus. His expression showed shock, but quickly hid. "Nice trick, Wind, but we all know that's using all of your power. If I hit you with an attack right now, you'd be defenseless."

My expression didn't change. "Try it, then."

He growled, and unleashed a powerful rainbow beam, headed right for my head. I turned my head, the mass of earth and water barely making a ripple as I unleashed a full powered Aeroblast. The beam was not only stopped, but my Aeroblast wasn't even slowed down as it collided with Arceus. He fell to the ground, gasping for air, as I slowly lowered the water and earth I had held up, and walker over to Arceus.

"Forgive me, Arceus. I thought you'd dodge." I felt bad in some ways, but part of me was happy to hit him good. I knew the others would've been proud.

Arceus wobbled up on his feet. "I could've dodged it if I wanted..." It didn't take psychic powers to see the lies in that. "I wanted to see your power in an attack. Well done."

"Thank you, sir." I said. I was ecstatic on the inside, that was his first compliment yet to me. "See you next week?"

"Actually, you won't." he started to walk away. "Get your rest, the tournament is the day after tomorrow. Oh, today's your birthday, isn't it? Happy 15th birthday, Wind."

I was confused, but he was right. It really had been 7 years since he picked me up that dreadful, dreadful day. And to make matters worse, I had to fight the best friends I had left, two days from now.

I sat down to meditate, but before I had even begun, I leaned back and fell asleep instantly.

A/N: Sorry for the late addition. This chapter was really awkward to write, because I had planned for this to be the last chapter of his childhood, but I didn't want to skip over the training too much. Next chapter will be the tournament.