Team Gai, as they are called, were said to be unbeatable.

They all had grown up in the small village of Konoha, run by the prestigious Gym Leader Sarutobi. In the Pokemon Academy, they got their team name from their teacher, Might Gai, who encouraged their individual growth whilst training them to work as a team.

And as the first children to reach ten that year, all three of them received their Pokemon at the same time.

Neji, already proven that he was a proficient Pokemon prodigy, was given the patient, well-mannered Bulbasaur. Though he never gave it a nickname, Bulbasaur taught him that he had to go slower to fully grow, just like the bud on its back. Bulbasaur also showed him that when he was beaten down, if he got back up then his efforts aren't in vain.

Lee got the exuberant Squirtle, nicknamed Gai the moment he got him, and was shown that there is more to offer than brute strength. It was Squirtle's defense and ability to stop or speed up when he needed to that helped Lee channel his determination and helped him reach his goals, even when Lee was doomed to be a horrible trainer by his classmates.

Tenten, the magnet to her two friend's opposites, was given the middle Pokeball containing Charmander, who was quickly nicknamed Kunai. She had lived her life being average, but Charmander sought for the skies and together they began to soar. Charmander's flaming passion drove Tenten to reacher higher than any of them could have imagined.

For the first three gyms, Neji caught the most Pokemon, and let the most go. He wasn't interested in 'weaklings', and even gave Tenten the Caterpie he had accidentally caught because Lee thought it was shiny. Often he wouldn't let his Pokemon rest until they were forced to drag themselves to a nearby Pokemon center. For most of the journey, Neji was the one pulling them forward even when they weren't ready, and his impatience showed when Bulbasaur couldn't evolve and was unable to defeat Blaine's Magmar.

Lee was a failure from the start, much to Neji's annoyance. He had a track record of never being able to beat his gyms on the first try, even when he had the advantage over Brock's Onix. He was always losing his items and having to go look for them, or wild Pokemon stole them from his in plain sight when he was distracted. Squirtle and Tenten often helped him, but Neji would go off and train until late into the night. Despite this, Lee was able to beat Erika through Sabrina when Squirtle was the first to evolve. A testament to their teamwork and hardships.

For Tenten, she would have to be the one to pull Neji back while pushing Lee forward. The mediator between them, she didn't suffer as many losses as Lee and didn't win as much as Neji. Charmander evolved normally, winning against those he had a type advantage over and struggling when he did not. Her growth was stunted because she couldn't give to herself, instead focusing on the genius and the failure. Her Caterpie grew into a beautiful Butterfree. She was the first to beat the eighth gym leader.

Team Gai was still a team though. Neji could absorb all of the hits Lee threw at him with ease, but he was easily scorched by Tenten, and in turn Lee was able to drown out her fire. They were disastrous to each other because of it. Neji went too fast, Lee went too slow, and no one knew Tenten.

It wasn't until Butterfree died that they finally pulled themselves together.

They were never told that a Pokemon could die. People had the idea that Pokemon could live forever, but that was certainly not the case when they was attacked by a rampaging Nidoking. They fought, all of them, but none of them could coordinate their attacks like Professor Gai had taught them, and Butterfree paid the price. The Butterfree Lee had found, the Butterfree Neji had accidentally caught, and the Butterfree that was now Tenten's that was now getting crunched in half and screaming in pain as the Nidoking snapped its jaws down on its fragile wings.

When it was all over, they didn't have the body to give it a funeral in Lavender Town. Tenten stayed behind, believing that Neji never needed her and that Lee depended on her too much so he had to grow up. But inside they knew that they had hurt her and that she couldn't stand them anymore.

And because of that, Neji went too fast and Lee went too slow.

All three drove themselves to the brink of despair. Neji trained his Pokemon and was stuck in the hospital when he got hypothermia in the mountains. Bulbasaur had to drag his unconscious body back even when the little grass-type was already so tired. And when his other Pokemon, mostly flying-types because he loved to watch them soar, had caged themselves up inside his Pokeballs, Bulbasaur stuck by his side when he finally woke up.

Lee nearly drowned when he and Wartortle weren't fast enough to escape a sudden whirlpool near Seafoam Islands. It was Wartortle's innate quickness in the water that barely saved them, and still Lee had to go into extensive care because he stopped breathing - and oh god he died for a few seconds - but Wartortle kept persistently waiting outside and hoping against hope even when his trainer couldn't.

And Tenten just stopped completely because she wasn't being pulled along and she wasn't being held back. She wasn't hurt physically like the others, but Butterfree was gone and he wasn't coming back, and Charmander was Charmeleon and he wanted to fly like Butterfree but Tenten stopped training... But he wouldn't give up and he knows loss is painful but Tenten was always the one to hold them all together and they really do love her.

"Char! Char!" Kunai told her one day, when she was walking around Lavender town doing nothing again. She felt like she couldn't do anything anymore, stuck on the earth and stuck going nowhere. Tenten stopped looking to the sky after that day, it became unbearable. Tenten turned to her loyal Kunai then, the one who was earthbound but kept looking at the sky; the one who hated being in his Pokeball and was stubborn about it because he is stubborn with a lot of things. In his claws he held Butterfree's shattered Pokeball. The one Neji used to catch him with.

"Why are you showing me this?" she sobbed, the usual strong girl she once was seemingly a figment of the pas. But Kunai is stubborn with a lot of things so he pushed the Pokeball into her unwilling face and showed her the message on the back. To Tenten, From Neji, Love Lee. It was how the green oddball had called the 'present'. She didn't know the meaning back then because Neji simply pitied her for not yet catching her first Pokemon and thought it was 'adequate' to just give her one. She had never told him that she couldn't catch a Pokemon because he never let them settle down long enough.

To Tenten, because it was the only thing Neji ever gave her. From Neji, because it was the only thing he ever gave without something in return. Love Lee, because he had loved them at that time and had not loved them as much as he did then. When they were a team.

Tenten clasped Kunai's claws between her hands, crying for a whole new reason. She had foolishly left her friends behind, when she should have helped them go forward. With determination she pulled Kunai along to begin training, something she hadn't done in a long, long time.

Neji may go too fast and Lee went too slow, but Tenten was better than both of them because she can go just right. She began training like Neji, but spent her time with her Pokemon like Lee, and within a week Charmeleon evolved into Charizard and she finally took to the skies like Butterfree used to do.

Ring ring ring! Ring ring ring! Phone call! Phone call! Ring ring ring!

Neji was irritated when he got the call so early in the morning, still in bed with Bulbasaur by his side. The little thing rarely disobeyed him, but now it was intent on not getting into its Pokeball anymore. He didn't want it to end up like Tenten's rebellious Kunai. He wasn't sure he had the patience to handle it like she could. Ah, speak of the devil.

"Hey, Neji!" He was surprised when she sounded so happy. It had been almost a month since he last heard her voice, and he couldn't bring himself to call because he didn't want to hear her to broken up inside. Sometimes he wished he had just released Buttefree, because then when it got eaten none of them would have thought much of it. But Tenten was just too elated when he offered that he simply handed it over and tried to think nothing of it.

Even when he had nearly all flying-types, and his Pidgeotto usually knocked Butterfree to the ground, the wide-eyed insect got right back up and flew higher than anything he had ever seen before. It hurt, to watch fate take something meant to be free away.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur spoke up, smiling at the voice he adored. Often when he was too worn to battle, Neji let him rest out of the way and Tenten would be the one giving him the super potions. "Bulbasaur!"

"Tenten?" Neji questioned tentatively. "How... how have you been?" I miss you.

A giggle that warmed his heart. "Much better. But I should ask you the same thing! What happened to you?"

Neji frowned. He didn't tell her about his accident. "A little too much training, I wasn't paying attention." I didn't know how to stop without you.

He wouldn't tell her outright until they were much older, but his entire team got wiped out by some prick named Kidoumaru, who left most of his Pokemon poisoned and he didn't have enough antidotes because he never thought that he'd need them but he was wrong.

"Neji Hyuuga, not paying attention? Never." She was joking, but the concern was there. Bulbasaur had hopped up from the floor where he usually lay onto the bed Nei was in, looking outside the window into the clear sky. "Gosh, you need to wash your hair."

His eyes jerked about, as if wondering how she knew. "Who told you I haven't washed my hair?" Hygiene was a big thing to him, often due to travelling about and sleeping under the stars. He had just neglected it like he had neglected his Pokemon and himself.

Something tapped on the window, and Bulbasaur was smiling even brighter than before. "Take a look outside, Neji." And she hung up.

Timidly Neji turned his head. He had always known that Tenten was strong, and that she was independent, but never before has she looked more fearsome riding on her Charizard just outside his temporary inn room. Numb limbs be damned, Neji nearly flung himself out of his bed to open the lock and stick his head outside. Kunai blew some hot breath in his face, but he couldn't stop the look of awe on his usually impenetrable face.

"Tenten!" he gasped and she giggled and he never wanted her to leave ever again. "You can fly!" And Bulbasaur, the patient, well-mannered grass-type ran up his back and jumped off his shoulder to grab onto his fiery friend's face and crawled up his neck into Tenten's arms. And she had never laughed as hard as she did now.

"Let's go Neji" she said with a gleam in her eyes. "We gotta go back and get Lee."

And without a care, Neji too threw himself out the window and onto the enormous flying-type.

To his amazement, newly-evolved Kunai flew with such speed and grace that he was dizzy with vertigo and he had never felt so free in his life.

"Wartortle!"

Lee grinned and gave his Pokemon a hearty thumbs-up, but recently it had been losing its luster. It had begun getting harder and harder to get up and move around, as if his body was lead. Blaine was still expecting him for another Pokemon battle.

Sadly, as Lee watched from the shore as Gai played in the surf, he could already think about what Neji would say. "You had the type-advantage, Lee. You should have won. You're weak, you spend too much time goofing off rather than training or battling. Even I beat Blaine, and Bulbasaur is a grass-type."

"Lee!"

Aha, he was going crazy. He thought he had heard Neji's voice just now.

"Leeeee!" Maybe Tenten's too, but she couldn't take care of him like she use to. He was too slow for her, she just got sick of him like Neji did.

Gai had begun swimming really fast then, trying to make a little whirlpool in the water for some reason. Lee didn't touch the water since he nearly drowned, but he enjoyed watching from a distance.

"Lee, snap out of it!"

No, Lee thought to himself as he pulled his knees up to his chest. He didn't want to die, not in such a gruesome fashion as Tenten's Butterfree had endured. Five excruciating bites at the wrong place and the wrong time. One, and its wing was shredded. Two, and its body was crushed. Three, and bug guts flew everywhere. Four, and Tenten was screaming her poor heart out. Five, and it wailed one last time before its head was squished between two large jaws. The Nidoking had satisfied its fill and left, leaving them nothing but the fragments of their team, their friendship.

Were they even friends from the beginning? Neji was always putting him down, and Tenten was doing her darndest to bring him back up. But... after the incident she stopped smiling and Neji stopped caring and it left Lee so cold inside because maybe they weren't friends after all. They were simply kids who wanted to become Pokemon masters and just happened to all be going to the same town at the same time.

Well, if they were strangers, then Lee would have been left in the dust long ago. He was a horrible trainer, taking weeks longer than either of his comrades to get his Pokemon to their level. It was by sheer luck that Gai had been able to outswim that whirlpool. In fact, he was making one now, causing unease to settle into Lee's stomach. Stop that, he wanted to say, but simply looked to the sky to distract him.

The sky was merely the place his dreams were, unattainable because he was too afraid to even touch water anymore.

Something breathed hot hair onto his head, which is what Kunai did a lot when they were still together. Lee ignored the feeling, knowing that it's just his imagination. None of his so-called friends were coming back to get him now.

"Sweet Scent," Neji whispered in his usual irritated voice, causing Lee to think that he was hallucinating. A sweet smell filled the air, reminding the wide-eyed boy of when he had stopped their travels just so he could try and find a Pokemon he really wanted. Neji would have Bulbasaur help him along, just so that they could leave faster. Another funny thing was that Gai was coming to shore with the same giddy expression he had when Tenten would make his favorite-flavored treat.

Lee suddenly felt a weight on his head, followed by another one. Odd, because only Tenten and Neji did that when they were unwilling to admit that they were tired. He must be really depressed, because everything around his was making him miss his best friends more and more and more and -

"Lee, I never thought you were this dense," Neji admonished, grumbling in frustration before he and Tenten walked into his vision. Something breathed from above his head and he felt his hair crackling as he looked up and saw Kunai.

"You guys!" Lee shouted, too surprised for words as he felt giant tears already forming. "You came back!" You didn't leave. He watched with amazement as Kunai flexed his powerful wings and smiled when Tenten fed Gai the treat she was holding and Bulbasaur was emitting that sweet scent Lee always liked but Neji often refused to indulge him in.

With too many words to say and not enough words to say them all, Lee shot up and ran at the two with arms wide open. His burst of strength caught them off guard, and they all fell into the water.

Tenten laughed and hugged him back while Neji tried to get out of the water as quick as possible, but he couldn't do that with Lee on top of him and Bulbasaur constricting them all with his vines in his version of a 'hug'. "Does this mean we're Team Gai again?" Lee asks anxiously, like a young child asking to be comforted by his parents. Does that mean you won't leave me behind?

"We were never not Team Gai," Tenten assures him, helping them all up because that's her job and she loves it. "It's just a moment of change." And Bulbasaur smiled and Gai flashed that striking pose Lee had taught him and Kunai blew magnificent fire into the air.

That night they slowly began to thread the torn patches of their friendship back together.

"I think we've been misguided from the start," Tenten said, lying against Kunai as he was dozing behind her. He was so big now... Tenten took a breath, comforted by the her loyal companion's warm, strong body. "We couldn't figure out our differences from the start, we were a pretty lackluster team. We only realized this when January died." She looked pained at her last words, never saying Butterfree's nickname since that incident. But that incident was long ago and it destroyed her friends and family, and it would have made January very sad.

"It's my fault," Neji spoke up, Bulbasaur sitting between his crossed legs at the low table they all sat at. This surprised Lee, because Neji often pushed his failures on others. He was supposed to be perfection. The lavender in his eyes spoke of great remorse for his actions, and he petted Bulbasaur on the bulb for reassurance. "I wanted - still want - to be a great Pokemon champion. It clouded my judgement, made me crave power and made me angry when you two tried to focus on yourselves. I have been selfish, I apologize."

"No! It is also my fault!" Lee yelled as softly as he could. It was nighttime, and they had all taken up housing in the inn Lee had been using for the past month. Gai was sitting at his side, looking adamant and determined just as much as his trainer. "I always wanted to play and wander around! I was also not vigilant enough with the wild Pokemon, and often had to have you two come rescue me! It is my shortcomings that have also damaged our youthful friendship. Please forgive me, for I have also been selfish!" He bowed his head, Gai following his actions loyally.

Tenten smiled at the apologies her boys were giving. She quickly relived their excitement when they got their starters, and now look at them! Professor Gai would be bawling over their lack of 'youth' and teamwork if he saw how bad they had fallen! "If we're all taking blame, then I will too," she stated, her unwavering eyes daring them to challenge her. "When January died, I felt like I couldn't go on being a Pokemon trainer. Ever since I was little, I wanted to be just like Lady Tsunade, one of the legendary Masters. I always aimed high, but I never reached high. It was my willingness to just quit that damaged us too, and for that I am truly sorry for being so selfish."

They all settled into a comfortable silence, all contemplating their actions up until this point.

As usual, Neji was the leader. He softly lifted Bulbasaur up and said honestly, "Bulbasaur has not evolved yet. I don't know why. It has been troubling me ever since Lee's Squirtle evolved." In his own awkward way, he was asking for them all to take that shaky step forward.

Of course Neji would be worried about Bulbasaur, even he never outright showed it. A person's starter is their best confidante. Neji would have loved to have gotten Charmander, what with the promise of powerful flight, but he grew to love little earthbound Bulbasaur. The plant creature reminded him of his father sometimes, always silent yet intelligently watching. Maybe he had not shown it the compassion it deserved? Undoubtedly Neji knew he worked his team to the bone. That's why his Fearow squawks irritably at him and why Dodrio constantly tries to bite his fingers off when he attempts to feed them. It's called tough love, yet they all flock to Tenten and all she does is give them a kind smile and a hug. It used to drive him insane because he couldn't instill the same kind of loyalty, but now he knew that he never put forth the effort in the first place.

"Well, Gai hasn't evolved since, Neji," Lee replied, looking over at the turtle. "I'm curious too. How has Tenten been able to discover the joys of youth with Kunai?" He turned to her expectantly, but he is sure that he already knows. A lot of his Pokemon are Fighting, Ground, or Normal. He seemed to have a fascination with the odd-looking Pokemon, and thus why he has a Hitmontop, a Hariyama, and Heracross. It's not like his Pokemon don't love him, but it's maybe the fact that he loves them too much. Even when they have the type advantage, Lee cannot figure out a way to defeat his enemies. His Pokemon don't have the right moves for their purpose, and thus bumble around without a set course to follow. Lee doesn't want to admit it, but he hasn't been working very hard enough, and Gai pats him on the shoulder.

"Kunai? I didn't so anything, he's wanted to fly since the very beginning." Tenten explained, patting the dragon merrily. But inside the knowledge that she didn't do anything annoys her. Her beautiful Scisor and Steelix weren't trained by herself, she simply did the trainer trick of trading them and trading them back with the respective held items. If they grew or not under her tutelage, she was unsure of. Her Kabutops was just lucky to be high enough level to evolve right after it was de-fossilized, and refused to eat out of her outstretched hands like over-levelled Pokemon did to trainers they felt weren't experienced enough to tame them. Even if she loved them, she felt as if she wasn't a good enough trainer to really give them all they need, and it bit at her sometimes, deep in her heart.

And for a moment, they are all ten again. All of them are holding their starters, but their teams are right there beside them.

Neji is clinging to his tiny new Bulbasaur as feathers flutter all around him. His Pidgey and Spearow are mortal rivals, and his Dodrio is picking at his hair. His stupid Zubat was flapping around using super sonic when it wasn't supposed to, and his Natu was looking at him funny from the corner of his eye. He is a genius who will grow up to become a master, and will train all of them harshly despite any type disadvantages or status conditions. Their loyalty lies not entirely in their devotion to him, but his power. Their love will come later, and it will strengthen their bond until nothing can tear them down from the skies.

Lee is waving his Squirtle around like it is a stuffed animal, and Squirtle is crying and laughing at the same time because it's just so fun and scary it does not know which one to feel more. His Tyrogue is asleep beside him, a lazy-bum he feels is too young to wake up so early, while Makuhita and Heracross are busy wandering around for food. Cubone is bonking everything it sees on the head, and Lee does not discipline it. He is a failure at being a mature Pokemon trainer, but his Pokemon's immense love and gratitude for him allows him to be unafraid when he pushes forward, all of their fists raised with the flaming passion of youth.

Tenten's Charmander tries to monopolize her attention from both Pokemon and humans alike, chirping adorably and flashing his bright amber eyes because he knows she finds him too adorable to resist. Her Onix is encircling all of them, trying hard to be friendly but not destructive as Scisor uses him to harden its scythes. Her Kabuto is on her head, pinching at her buns and looking at everything with its beady red eyes. Caterpie is the only one to try and fight Charmander for her attention, and succeeds by curling up around her neck and nuzzling behind her ear. She laughs and is afraid her Pokemon won't be strong enough or resent her for being too weak. In the end, they all devote themselves to her, with their very last breath, and the death of their comrade only brings them together as if stuck together by a string shot.

And together, as Team Gai, they are unbeatable.

A/N: So fucking obviously it doesn't need to be said. I always want to add more, but I think 4,488 words is good enough. Really, this is me rambling for a bit and some things may sound really off. It was pretty fun though.