When Ash found the right place it was already dark outside. He and Pikachu stood right in front of Hertzfeld's nightclub, which, as the big neon sign in yellow letters right above it said, was named Hertzfeld's Nightclub. It looked like the biggest, tallest warehouse that Ash had ever seen—turns out this second gym was also cube-shaped. There was a very long line of people waiting to enter, it went past a few blocks, and there was a very large man at the entrance who wasn't letting anyone in. Every once in a while cars would just drive by, people would come out, and they'd just go in without waiting. In his mind Ash thought they were all challengers. So he just walked up to the entrance, only for the large man to stop him with a push.

"Who do you know here?"

"Hi, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and I want to challenge Hertzfeld to a gym battle. I know him personally, though I don't like him very much. I was just on his yacht."

"Yeah right," the large man said after a chuckle. "Nice try bro. You got all wet to try and pretend that you were in Hertzfeld's yacht. Good plan, but you're not dressed properly. So beat it."

"But tonight is my only chance to get this badge. Hertzfeld will leave for Lumiose City tomorrow and won't come back for months. He told me that himself."

"Oh, so you know Hertzfeld and he told you all about himself? Face it kid, I know you're lying, you gotta go before I kick you out. It was a nice try. Any other night, I might have let you challenge me for the right to enter. But tonight Hertzfeld told me not to let any challengers in, so now you're dressed like a wet clown and you gotta go. You're not the special one that gets whatever he wants whenever he wants, that's Hertzfeld. I've never seen you here before, you're alone, and you don't know anybody here."

"He does know someone," someone said behind Ash. It was a very soothing voice that was effortlessly seductive. She had straight black hair, voluminous and shiny even in the dark of night. She had elegant blue eyes, very big and expressive. Her make up blended seamlessly into her perfect face, to the point that it was hard to tell if she was wearing any make up, though she most certainly was. She had a svelte and graceful figure, long legs. A tall woman. She was wearing a black evening dress that was easily worth more than a car. And it was obvious she was the first and so far the only woman to wear that design.

Ash's jaw dropped dramatically when he saw Elesa standing right next to him. The Nimbasa Gym Leader laughed softly as she approached Ash, then closed his mouth with her index finger.

"Elesa, I can't believe you're here!"

"I bet you can't," Elesa said. "But it's definitely more surprising to find you here, especially so late at night."

"I came to challenge Hertzfeld. And I was at his yacht, trust me. Professor Birch and Cedric Juniper were there too."

"Oh, I see. I'm supposed to have lunch with them tomorrow. That's why I am in Cosounux."

"That make sense."

"Yes it does." Elesa faced the large man. "So now you know Ash is with me. Surely you won't let me leave my friend outside."

"No, of course not Elesa, please come in."

The large man opened the door for them and Elesa let Ash go first. He entered into a dark hallway adorned with purple velvet, and then together with Elesa they went down a set of stairs.

"I have to say I can't believe you're friends with a guy like Hertzfeld," Ash said.

"Oh, believe me, I am not friends with that guy, he's very selfish. However he does have the best club in town. It's a shame. But at least I'll be able to see you kick his ass, make sure you give him a good beating Ash."

Ash looked up at Elesa, he'd have a friend cheering him on after all. "You got it!"

Ash entered the room and was instantly blinded by yellow blinking lights. The light flashed in sync with the music, and though the rhythm was rather slow, the people there were really into it, all flailing their limbs and smiling wide. The throbbing bass reverberated beneath Ash's feet, and he had to admit even though Hertzfeld was an awful guy, he was a great DJ. The music was loud but wasn't unbearable, and it went into the ear pleasantly. It was some techno stuff, the melody was catchy, and when the lights showed the people's faces Ash could tell everyone loved it. At the far back of the room was the DJ Booth set well above the floor. Hertzfeld was controlling it. Both man and booth were a black silhouette bathed in yellow light. His big headphones were perfectly delineated on top of his head. Hertzfeld's shadow swayed from side to side, grooving with the music, while the people danced beneath him. He looked like their master, and he didn't care about any of them at all.

Some dancers identified Elesa. She and Ash started making their way through the sea of people, which opened for them as they kept walking towards the Dj booth. The people got out of Elesa's way as soon as they saw her. And so Ash reached reached the edge of the dance-floor and stood in front of the Dj booth, staring up at Hertzfeld. Ash knew he didn't have to say anything, he wasn't dancing, he wasn't moving at all. He was outside of the general vibe, and after only seconds of standing at the front, Hertzfeld noticed him as well as Elesa, who was standing next to Ash with a hand on her hip, and a smile on her face. Hertzfeld stopped grooving in tune with the music and entered into an intense stare-down with Ash while the track kept playing.

Hertzfeld lowered his sunglasses, he couldn't believe Ash was there. But then he kept staring. When the yellow lights blinked Ash became fully visible for just a second. A few sights of him made Hertzfeld believe he was actually there. Meanwhile during one of the blinking moments Ash was able to get a good look at Hertzfeld's sharp hazel eyes. He was most definitely not happy to see Ash there.

The music stopped. Everyone sighed loudly in disappointment. Hertzfeld took his headphones off.

"You weren't supposed to find me," he said.

"I'm here for the badge," Ash replied.

Herzfeld took a good look at him. His clothes were still a little wet, awful combination of blue and red. Horrible haircut. His face indicated he wanted the badge and nothing else. In Hertzfeld's eyes he was an obtrusive little brat who should've kept his mouth shut.

Herzfeld jumped on top of his booth. "I'm a League Champion! I've beaten every opponent I've ever faced with only my Galvantula. Do you really think you can beat me Ash?"

"Yes," Ash quickly replied.

"Okay then." Hertzfeld jumped into the dance-floor, reached into the pockets of his yellow tracksuit, and took out a little remote control. He pressed a button and the dance-floor began glowing of many neon colors. Everyone moved to the sidelines, but they were all glad because of what was about to happen, even Elesa.

Hertzfeld unzipped his jacket, stuck his hand inside and took out a pokeball. Ash reached into his pocket and did the same.

"If you can defeat my Galvantula, I'll give you my official gym badge, let's do this!"

From Hertzfeld's side. Galvantula appeared on the dance-floor. The four hairy claws that were its feet thumped loudly on the ground from its considerable weight.

From Ash's side, Minefoo came out as Galvantula's antithesis, gracefully like a feather, setting her light foot softly on the ground after a jump.

"Galvantula use thunderbolt now!" Galvantula growled and electricity ignited above its abdomen. Then Galvantula shot it directly at Mienfoo, fainted her, and made vapors emanate from her body after she fell down on the glowing dance-floor.

"Hey! The battle hasn't even started," Ash cried out. He called Mienfoo back into her pokeball. "A referee has to oversee it officially!"

"Now you want to cry? It's not my fault if you're asleep Ash," Hertzfeld said dastardly. "You gotta be ready at all times."

"I wasn't asleep, I was waiting for the battle to officially start, that's how it works."

"Ash is right," Elesa said from the sidelines. "Hertzfeld, you cheated. That should be an instant disqualification and Ash should be given the victory."

"Is that so?" Hertzfeld said, then he looked at Ash. "Then I guess you won Ash." He took out a little metal circle which showed a rock with a lightning coming out of it, and showed it to him. "Then take the badge, it's yours." The mood had changed for the worse, everyone could see Hertzfeld was a pretty slimy guy. He had ruined the vibe. People started leaving, but he didn't care at all. "Take it. Take it Ash! I'm sure a guy like you will be satisfied with a victory like this, huh. How did it go against Norris? Was it anything like this? It serves you well for not being my surfing buddy."

Hertzfeld put the badge on his palm and closed his fist. "Or do you want to continue? And have a real match with me?"

"That's right," Ash said. He was full of anger, but he knew he didn't have to say anything else.

"See, that's just the kind of guy Ash is. You know what, I'll let you be my surfing buddy again," Hertzfeld said with a light smile.

"I'll never be your surfing buddy, I'll never go surfing with you again."

Hertzfeld's smile was instantly erased, he turned to Elesa, who was still there along with a few still curious onlookers.

"Start the match," Hertzfeld said.

His tone angered Elesa greatly. "I'll start the match only because I want to see Ash destroy you."

"Whatever."

"Call your pokemon Ash," Elesa said.

Pikachu stepped in before Ash said anything. Galvantula growled as the lights from the ground turned from neon pink to green, then purple and then yellow.

"Start!" Elesa shouted.

"Galvantula! Use thunderbolt!"

"Pikachu! Use thunderbolt!"

Galvantula growled and attacked, Pikachu jumped, growled and attacked. Their powerful electricity clashed in the middle of the dance-floor and made a huge explosion that blinded everyone for two seconds. People shouted.

One of the curious onlookers went to the Dj booth and turned the music on with full bass. When he heard it, Hertzfeld's rage reached its maximum level, his eyes practically glowed red as he turned around.

"That's mine!" he growled. "Do not touch that you piece of nothing! Get out of there now!"

The curious onlooker bolted off but the music kept playing.

"Galvantula, use thunderbolt!"

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!"

Once again the pokemon roared loudly, both Galvaltula and Pikachu wanted to defeat one another with the same passion as their trainers. Once again their electricity pierced ears and blinded eyes, however this time the attacks reached the pokemon and both of them were bathed in very painful yellow energy. After another explosion both of them retreated a bit and recoiled from the hit.

"Pikachu, are you okay?"

Pikachu turned around and nodded decisively.

"Shut up Ash! Who do you think you are?" Hertzfeld said. "This is my nightclub! You can't beat me here, no one can. My thunderbolts are much more powerful than yours. I'll show you. Galvantula!"

Ash and Pikachu quickly shared a look, then smiled at each other.

"Galvantula, use thunderbolt!"

"Pikachu! Use thunderbolt!"

Electricity clashed in the middle of the dance-floor again. An explosion rumbled and filled the place with light. Their attacks were so powerful that both pokemon managed to reach each other with their energy, and both Pikachu and Galvantula began hurting really bad.

"Galvantula, don't let him win!"

"Pikachu, you got this!" Ash shouted. Pikachu released a battle-cry, pushed through the pain, and continued his electric attack with all the power he had. The pokemon screamed, the trainers screamed too, the clash of electricity between them grew bigger and bigger. It was so loud that the onlookers became afraid. But the pokemon didn't give up even though they were about to run out of energy to continue. And their electricity grew even more.

"Guys! You need to stop!" Elesa cried from the sidelines. "It's too much power!"

But they couldn't hear her. The clash of electricity and their shouts were much louder than the music that was still playing.

Pikachu sensed he would run out of energy, he made the effort to look at Galvantula, and saw that it was just as tired as he was. But Pikachu also saw that Galvantula wouldn't give up. So Pikachu pushed harder and Galvantula did the same, up until too much energy filled the space between them and it burst as a giant explosion.

The music stopped, all the lights went out. But flames appeared, which at least helped everyone retain visibility. People started screaming, the flames started spreading. Hertzfeld called Galvantula back and ran out of the place.

"We have to get everyone out of here fast!" Elesa shouted.

"Yes!" Ash said.

Most people ran to the exit, but some others remained crouched on the corners. Ash ran to his closest one, grabbed him by the arm and rushed with him to the stairs at the front. Meanwhile Elesa made sure everyone covered their mouths and got out safely. Ash ran back to the corner of the dance-floor as the flames kept spreading and the whole placed filled with smoke. He grabbed the arm of the remaining girl who was crouched on the corner filled with fear, and told her to run with him. But when they were at the middle point between the corner and the exit the smoke became too dense and they lost visibility. They started coughing and sweating profusely, and sensed the flames getting nearer and nearer. Ash told the girl to crouch with him and put Pikachu inside of his jacket, then closed his eyes, and waited for anyone to save them.

"Don't worry, we're going to be fine, I promise," he said.

"You don't know that," the girl said to him.

"Yes I do, trust me."

He closed his eyes harder and got the girl and Pikachu closer to him, then heard ice breaking all around him, and found himself suddenly very cold. Ash opened his eyes, the whole place was still filled with smoke so he couldn't see anything, but he could sense that the fire was being put out, and took a safe, quick sigh of relief.

"See, I told you," he said. "Now we just have to wait."

But he couldn't wait. Ash kept his eyes open until the smoke cleared, and his jaw dropped when he saw Serena and Lillie there, with Snowy and Delibird in front of them breathing ice all over. Elyan was also there, coughing behind the two.

Serena ran to him, she saw him crouching down with the girl and Pikachu.

"Hey Ash, what are you doing?"

"Uh, I'm being saved."

"Um, anyway there's no time for this, let's get out of here now."

Ash nodded and ran with his friends. Outside it was very crowded and the firefighters were already at the scene. Everyone was safe.

Ash's friends took him to the beach so he could regain his breath.

"How did you know I was in trouble? And how did you manage to get here so fast?"

"We didn't know!" Lillie said.

"Yeah, we had no idea," Elyan added, "you gave us a big scare Ash."

"I'm sorry, I was having an official match with Hertzfeld and it got out of control."

"Thankfully everyone is safe, especially you," Serena said.

"But, why did you come here? What about Lillie's battle with Nora?"

"Oh yeah, about that," Lillie said. "I may have rushed myself blindly. I didn't even bother to ask any of you if you planned to stay in Maisoram before I went ahead and scheduled an official match. And I didn't even ask if you wanted to wait for me."

"It was obvious you were ready to leave Maisoram. We felt bad so we decided to come," Elyan added.

"And I'm so glad we did," Serena said. "You were very lucky that we found you at the moment we did. We'll stay together from now on."

"No! We have to go back to Maisoram," Ash cried out.

"What?" everyone else said.

"We have to go back so that Lillie can have her match with Nora."

"Oh Ash, it's okay."

"No it's not. I was wrong, I should've never left. I should've stayed with you and waited. We're friends, so we have to support each other in whatever we do, together. Is your match with Nora still on?"

"It is," Lillie said.

"Very well then, we'll go back tomorrow."

Serena couldn't contain herself any longer, she went and hugged Ash tightly. Then everyone else joined in on the hug.

The scared girl, who was previously crouched down in the corner, was also with them on the beach. She had short black hair that reached the back of her neck, and was just as tall as Ash. So she was very short.

She appeared out of nowhere, once everyone was calm and regaining oxygen, and promptly hugged Ash really tight.

"Hi! My name is Shirley and I couldn't help but overhear that your name is Ash. Thank you for saving me Ash!"

"No problem, although I didn't really save you."

"But you said we'd be fine and you reassured me a lot."

"That's because I was sure we'd be saved. I should've known it'd be by my friends."

"Yes, but now you have to rest, and you must make sure to grab all the air you can," Serena said.

"Oh yes," Shirley said. Then she let go of Ash and bowed before the group. "Thank you for saving me."

"It's no problem. Thankfully everyone is safe," Elyan said. "And Serena's right, make sure to take in all the fresh air you can, and you probably could use a tea to calm your nerves. Let me go get you some."

"Galvantula, use thunderbolt!" Hertzfeld shouted.

Galvantula's thunderbolt reached Pikachu, who already was very weak. It was too much for him and Pikachu fainted on the sand.

That's how Hertzfeld made his presence known to everyone on the beach, and then they all saw him there. He was covered in ash, his headphones were gone and his shades were broken, leaving his angry eyes fully exposed.

"It's over for you Ash," he said. "Now our battle is finished. I bet you don't have any more pokemon, because I didn't let you capture any. You burned my gym. You refused to be my surfing buddy. And on top of that you broke my glasses! But now I won and so you have to suffer this defeat. It serves you well."

"Are you serious?" Lillie said. "We just went through the most terrible thing, and you come and sucker-punch Pikachu. It's not fair."

"But our battle hadn't ended, and Ash once again wasn't alert. I'm sure he will agree with me, won't you Ash?"

"Yes," Ash said with confidence. "You may be a terrible person, but some of what you say is right. Like what you said yesterday."

"What? No, this whole time I've been saying the first thing that comes to my mind in order to get you to do whatever I want."

"Nevertheless you weren't completely wrong. Discipline is essential. Are you hearing this Elyan?"

"What?" Elyan said. "Don't rope me into this now. But yes I hear you, discipline is essential, thanks Ash."

"Ha, I chose to focus on that because I knew it'd be the kind of stuff someone like you would eat up," Hertzfeld said. "But I actually made it all up Ash, it's a lie."

"It's not a lie, it's definitely not a lie. I'll show you, with my remaining pokemon, which you've completely forgotten about. The battle isn't over yet."

Ash released Cubchoo, who came out of her pokeball standing in two legs. She then faltered a little bit, but managed to remain standing and put her fist up.

"Oh, that thing. I'd completely forgotten about him."

"It's a she," Ash said, "and her name is Cubchoo."

"My Galvantula's actual name is Hertzfeld The Second (II), but I call it Galvantula cause that's what I've always called it."

"Well, Cubchoo only needs one hit to faint Hertzfeld The Second, as it is way too weak."

"Oh yeah? Well Galvantula only needs to blow a soft breeze at your little baby to faint it. Unlucky for him I won't show mercy. Galvantula use thunderbolt!"

Galvantula ignited electricity above its abdomen again, then ruthlessly released it at Cubchoo, spreading a bunch of sand in the air. When the dust cleared Cubchoo was laying without moving on the ground.

"See, you can't come to my town and take my spot. I'm the number one," Hertzfeld said. "My thunderbolt is the most powerful in Cosounux. It's done."

"The battle isn't over," Ash said.

"Yes it is, your pokemon is fainted."

"Look again."

Except it wasn't Cubchoo laying on the ground, it was actually a fulgurite, also known as glass made out of silica, which is the result of lightning hitting the sand. There were a lot of clear crystals around but Cubchoo was nowhere to be seen.

"Little baby, you think you can hide from me?" Hertzfeld said. "I'm the giant scary ogre, and you've come to my swamp. One way or another you're gonna leave. Ha, you're hiding behind one of those crystals, I'll just destroy them all. Galvantula, use thunderbolt!"

Galvantula destroyed one of the crystals, however, even more crystals appeared. Hertzfeld was instantly dismayed.

"See, this is the product of our discipline," Ash said. "To get good, you have to train, there's no way around it. You will either do it or you won't. Make the choice, it's all yours! Are you hearing me right Elyan?"

"Yes Ash, I heard you perfectly," Elyan said. "Jeez, give it a rest," he then whispered.

Cubchoo happily came out from behind one of the crystals, looked at Ash and waved at him with a smile on her face.

"Oh no! Cubchoo!" Ash cried out. "Go hide! Just like we practiced, stay on the board, you can do this!"

Cubchoo remembered she was in the middle of a battle. She didn't quite know what a battle was yet, but her instincts told her that she should stay alert and go back to hide behind one of the crystals.

"It's too late! It's all over for you dude," Hertzfeld shouted. "Galvantula, destroy everything!"

Galvantula tried to harness all the energy it could, but it was just too tired. It had to take a pause, and rest its head down for a bit while Cubchoo remained hidden.

Ash couldn't do anything else, he had a plan, but he needed a proper window to carry it out and that wasn't it.

Galvantula charged up another thunderbolt, as powerful as it could make it, harnessing all of the energy it had left. The attack hit directly on the sand and then spread all over the place, making a huge crystal burst out of the sand like a tree with many branches.

"Is it finally over?" Hertzfeld said. "It has to be, right? There's no way your baby pokemon could've survived that."

"Think again. Cubchoo, now's your chance, attack Galvantula with all you've got!"

Unscathed, Cubchoo came out from one of the crystals running directly at Galvantula and screaming. She made very clumsy steps, but she ran directly at it.

"Galvantula do something now!"

But Galvantula was way too tired and weak to do anything. However, on her way towards it, Cubchoo tripped and fell, and her head went and landed right on Galvantula's head, making a direct hit that took Galvantula down and fainted it.

Galvantula's head thumped on the ground and then the rest of its body went down. Then Cubchoo slowly raised from the ground, and after some tumbling she stood up and stroke her head softly.

"Yeah, we did it!" Ash ran to her along with a moderately recovered Pikachu. Ash picked Cubchoo up and lifted her above his head. At seeing her trainer so happy, Cubchoo celebrated full of joy with him. The victory was theirs.

Meanwhile Hertzfeld dropped his butt on the sand and called Galvantula back.

"Whatever dude," he said.

"That was incredible Ash," Lillie said. "Congratulations, and even more for getting a victory like this, after Hertzfeld cheated."

"He did that twice," Ash said.

"Yeah, and yet you won fair and square, somehow. You deserve the fulgur badge." Hertzfeld stood up and took out the badge. "I'll give it to you, but you have to promise me one thing Ash."

"What is it?"

"You have to leave Cosounux and never come back."

"Never ever?"

"Yes."

"I don't think I can promise something like that," Ash said.

"Okay fine. But promise me you'll at least try to stay away."

"Eh, sure."

"Great. Being close to you will certainly make me lose my mojo, and it's all mine and I want to keep it. I need to forget you exist as soon as I can. Here you go, you earned it."

Hertzfeld handed Ash the badge.

"I'm really tired, it's time to go home."

"What about the gym, I mean your nightclub?"

"Meh, who cares about it," Hertzfeld said. "Somebody told me it wasn't that bad and nobody got hurt in the end."

"Yeah, that's because Ash and Elesa helped everyone out," Elyan said. "We saw you run out of the club by yourself as soon as the fire started."

"Yeah, I know. I've done it before and I'll definitely do it again. I have to look out for number one. Goodbye." Hertzfeld started walking, all by himself. "I have look out for number one. It's all about number one," he said as he walked.

"Where to now?" Lillie asked.

"Now, we go back to Maisoram, together," Ash replied. "You have a badge to win."

Lillie looked at Ash, her big eyes glistened for a bit. Then she nodded with confidence.