On the busy streets of Castelia City, Black wanders around with Tep on his shoulder, and is still amazed by how gigantic the metropolis is. Feeling overwhelmed, he plops down onto the ground, and hollers that Castelia is much bigger than he imagined, despite knowing beforehand that it is an enormous city. His eccentric actions temporarily draw attention from the crowd passing by, but they soon learn to ignore him and continue on their way.

Black flips out the city map, and tells Tep that apart from the maze like streets and the large amount of skyscrapers, there are also five docks towards the southern edge where ships come and go. At that moment, White walks up to him from behind, sighing that he always has to shout, and Black is glad to see that she has returned. Apparently, White has been searching for Black across the busy streets after she was done with her business, but it wasn't until Black yelled that she finally located him.

Black sees the handful of bags that White is carrying, and states that she seems to have a lot accomplished. White nods with a grin, and says she has not only brought Gigi for a massage, but she also bought her new costumes, and even got some of Castelia City's famous Casteliacones. On top of that, she has successfully drawn in new business, and Black is genuinely amazed by her productivity.

White explains that when Gigi was having its massage, the owner of the shop became impressed with Gigi's charm, and requested to use it in their advertisement. Of course, she promptly agreed, and now, she will need Tep's help as well. Naturally, Black has no objections to it, and in no time, Black finds himself in a studio where Tep and Gigi are being photographed on a massage table.

Watching the cameraman move around to take pictures for an advertisement poster, Black has honestly no idea that there are so many aspects of the show business. The two female masseurs each places a hand on Tep and Gigi, who both put up the most relaxed look they can. The masseurs then start talking about the two Tepigs, whom they are apparently familiar with, and say they are now basically the stars of the BW Agency. The shop's manager recalls that the other Pokemon from the agency are said to be extremely talented as well, and White assures her that all her actors and actresses are true professionals, and can do the exact expression and pose as requested.

After a few more shots, the photography team eventually picks one that depicts Tep and Gigi slumbering next to each other with the masseurs' hands hovering just above their heads. The graphics designer adds in the words to show them how the final poster will look like, and the shop's owner is clearly impressed by it. She thanks White for her contribution, and White politely says she will be more than pleased with work with them again.

Later, back on the busy streets, White calls out to Black as she wears a mischievous grin, and Black wonders what is wrong. White reminds him of the incident at Accumula when they first met, and how worried Black was when she showed him the debt he owes her for payment of the destroyed filming equipment. Now, she is happy to tell him that, after the poster photo shoot, he has already paid off half of the sum, and the news clearly gives Black a pleasant surprise. He picks Tep up into his arms, and says it has truly been working hard. He hopes that he could give it a reward, but unfortunately he doesn't have anything at hand.

Hearing Black's words, White grins that she actually has a reward for Tep, and opens up a box of Casteliacones. She states that this delicacy can heal all status conditions such as poison and paralysis in a Pokemon battle, and thinks Black will find them useful. Black thanks White for the wonderful gift, but then remembers one must queue up for a long time to get the Casteliacones. He wonders why White would spend all the time for them, and White, putting on a sincere look, remarks that it is because she has decided to show her support to his dream.

White's answer causes Black to widen his eyes in shock, and White confesses that she was initially not very fond of, even slightly turned off, by his constant yelling about conquering the Pokemon League. However, as she watched him challenge Gyms and earn Badges, she has come to respect his strong will in pursuing his dream. White says she doesn't know a lot about Pokemon battles, but believes that Black will require a lot of items and necessities to help him out on his journey. Black admits that he will indeed need things like Pokeballs, medicine, in-battle items, as well as food for his Pokemon, which will all be quite costly.

To his surprise, White offers to cover all the expenses, and says all she wants in return is for Black to continue working with her. Also, when he eventually gets to the Pokemon League, she wants him and Tep to wear the logo of the BW Agency, which will from now on be his sponsor in helping him achieve his dream. Black pauses for a brief thought, and decides to accept White's offer. The two shake hands, and White believes that they will work as a great team.

She then bends down to tell Tep that they can stay as a group, but suddenly notices that Tep is beginning to tremble and shake. She asks Black what is going on, fearing that it has fallen ill, but Black takes a close look, and thinks that it is perhaps ready to evolve. Black's words cause White to jump with shock, and she wants to know if it means Tep is going to change its appearance. Black says it could be, since Tep has been fighting and accumulating experience for quite some time now, and upon evolution, nearly all Pokemon change how they look.

White thinks of how cute Tep and Gigi look together, how their popular combo earned her numerous offers for TV shows, movies and commercials, and her mind starts to boggle at the thought that Tep will turn into a large fierce looking pig which will be totally out of harmony with Gigi. Refusing to see that happen, White picks Tep up into her arms without warning, and starts shaking it vigorously and hollering that it must not evolve. Black freaks out and demands to know what she is doing, and White cries that she will lose a lot of business if Tep changes appearance.

Black manages to get White to let go of Tep, but finds himself at a dilemma as he thinks of what White just said. He shares a look with Tep, who is clearly troubled by the same thing, but neither could decide what to do on the matter.

Just then, the alarm goes off on Black's Xtransceiver, and he realizes that it is already late noon, and it is time for his scheduled Gym challenge. White quickly stuffs two sheets of paper to Black, telling him to take it along, and Black is taken aback when he sees that they are schedules White made for him.

Meanwhile, at Studio Castelia, an exhibition about the legends of the Unova region is currently on. Standing in front of a painting that depicts a spiraling cauldron, the owner of the gallery compliments Burgh for his wonderful work, and congratulates him for coming out of his slump. He states that the piece will certainly be a signature one at Studio Castelia, and Burgh grins that he has had a lot of inspiration from his visit to Nacrene City. The owner is surprised to hear that Burgh took a trip to Nacrene, and Burgh reveals that when he was still a budding artist, he actually rented a warehouse in Nacrene and used it as a studio. There, he was surrounded by many other artists, and their joint creativity inspired each other to create a lot of new work. The owner remarks that it must feel great to revisit one's own roots, and Burgh grins that it was certainly a pleasure.

At that moment, a girl storms through the studio's entrance riding on a Fraxure, and tells Burgh that his challenger who made a reservation has already arrived. She urges him to get back to his duty as the Castelia Gymleader, and the man merrily greets her as Iris. He is glad that the girl has come back to visit Castelia again, and wonders what she thinks of his new painting, requesting that she tells him with her usual honest, direct, yet charmingly unsophisticated words.

The girl hops off Fraxure to gaze upon the spiraling cauldron, and after a brief thought, wants to know if Burgh has lost his touch. She finds the painting rough, almost as if he is forcing himself to paint in a way that isn't really his style, and says she prefers his older, more deformed looking paintings. Iris's words strike at Burgh like an arrow into the heart, and the man slumps backwards as his face turns blank, causing the owner to get worried.

Iris spots two other paintings on the other side of the room, and says she likes them better. Trotting over, she stops in front of a dark painting of an electric turbine, titled 'Black Lightning', which is paired up with a lighter painting of a fire torch, titled 'White Flame'. She marvels at these two pieces which are based on the legends of Unova, and the studio owner has to beg Iris to say something to cheer Burgh up before he gets into another slump again.

Feeling frustrated, Iris walks back towards Burgh, but then smells something nice off the man's body. She wonders if Burgh is wearing honey-scented cologne, and the Castelia Gymleader suddenly gets cheerful again. He beams that he is not wearing cologne, but he does smell like honey, and is thrilled that Iris noticed it. He reveals that he has built an entirely new infrastructure in his Gym for his next challenger, and in order not to make his challenger wait any longer, he should head back to his Gym right away. With that, the man dashes out from Studio Castelia, and the owner thanks Iris for saving his artistry.

Out on Mode Street, Burgh hastens towards his Gym with Venipede sitting on his shoulder and two other Great Balls in hand. He is extremely eager to meet in battle his highly anticipated challenger, whom he has worked together with back in Nacrene, and is sure that it will turn out to be a highly enjoyable fight.

When he finally arrives at his Gym, he finds Black already waiting impatiently. The boy blames Burgh for being late, and ushers him into the Gym before the man could finish his apology. Once inside, Burgh gets ready to introduce how his Gym works to Black, but Black says he already knows that he needs to go through this honey coated maze and find Burgh at the very end of it.

The Castelia Gymleader is astounded by the boy's quickness, and understands that he must have done some extensive research before coming. He reveals that he personally painted each wall with honey, and created the whole thing as a piece of art. He grins that this maze of his Gym embodies both artistry and Objet d'art, and wonders if Black can feel how surreal and avant-grande it is.

However, to Burgh's dismay, Black has already headed off before hearing him out, and is quickly throwing himself against the honey-coated barriers. Burgh tries to tell Black to slow down and enjoy the art, but the boy pays no heed, and Burgh grins that his challenger is certainly impatient.

A while later, Black has managed to clear the maze, and is dripping with honey as he steps into the Gym's innermost chamber. Burgh welcomes him, and despite being fully aware that it is a known fact to the boy, formally introduces himself as the Gymleader of Castelia. He states that he is also known as the premier insect artist, and with that, sends forward a Whirlipede into action.

Black thinks to himself that his opponent is an expert in bug type Pokemon, which are weak to Tep's fire, and Brav's flying moves. He gets ready to send out Tep, but suddenly remembers how badly White reacted to its impending evolution. He thus changes his mind in the last second, and calls out Brav instead, who quickly engages in a close-up combat with the curlipede Pokemon.

Burgh remarks that his Whirlipede is adept in masking its moves by spinning rapidly like a wheel, but Black says it doesn't make a difference to him, and orders an Air Slash from Brav. Blades of wind soon cut towards Whirlipede to send it flying, and faint it as it crashes against the ground. Burgh marvels that it is a super effective flying attack, and says it is certainly logical for Black to resort to type advantages since he probably knew a Whirlipede is on his team. He states that they each can use up to three Pokemon in this battle, and wonders if Black knows which two other he has.

Without further ado, the man sends out a Dwebble, and from Black's facial expression, knows that the boy must have anticipated this as well. Yet, he doubts that he knows what attack Dwebble is going to use. Raising his hand, Burgh commands a Smack Down, and Dwebble instantly fires a bullet of rock which hits Brav on the forehead. Black gasp in shock, and Burgh grins that as an expert in bug types, he is fully prepared to see flying and fire types from his challengers. Therefore, he has devised appropriate strategies to deal with these opponents, and Smack Down is one of them.

Dwebble unleashes another Smack Down, which hits Brav square-chested, and knocks the bird down to the ground, fainting it. Black grunts that Smack Down is a rock type move which is super effective against flying and fire types, but Burgh alerts him that something else contributed to his Braviary being knocked out. Black quickly takes a look at Brav, and notices with a start that it has been inflicted with the poison status. It turns out that when Brav was having a close-up combat with Whirlipede, it has already been poisoned from their physical contact.

Black grits his teeth in frustration, and proceeds to send out his next Pokemon, Tula. Burgh gets the feeling that Black has something planned, and decides to save Dwebble as his trump card. He retrieves the rock bug to send out Leavanny instead, and the two bug Pokemon on the field get ready to face each other. Tep taps on its Pokeball, urging Black to use it, but Black ignores its call, and forces himself to focus on the battle at hand.

Outside, night has already fallen, and White breathes out a sigh of relief as she winds up her work for the day. She wonders how Black is doing, and on a deeper thought, realizes that she has never actually seen Black doing a Gym challenge all this time. Being his president and sponsor, she believes that she should show up to give her support, and starts finding the way to the Castelia Gym. However, as she wanders across the busy streets, she has no idea where she should head, and sighs that the city is simply too big and too crowded.

On the other end of the same street, Bianca is also having trouble finding her way. She tries to call out for Black, whom she knows must have come for a Gym challenge, but doesn't really know where to start looking. She ends up in Narrow Street which is much less crowded, but as she walks on, discovers that it is in fact nearly deserted, with only dumps on the side of the road. The street is dimly lit with only a few streetlamps, and Bianca starts to regret having stepped into this street. She blames Cheren for foolishly suggesting they split up to look for Black in this big city, and suddenly gets an idea.

Reaching into her pocket, she digs out a Pokeball, and releases a Litwick, which is a new member she recently added to her team. Letting Litwick sit on her head, she feels grateful to have a candle Pokemon to light up the road, but then a voice comes on out of nowhere to compliment on her nice Pokemon. Bianca turns to see who her intruder is, but something hits at her face in the next instant, causing her to pass out immediately. A male Team Plasma Grunt reveals himself with an Amoonguss, and grabs the startled Litwick from Bianca, stating that they shall liberate the Pokemon…