The woods on the outskirts of Hau'oli City.
Sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows as Li Wei led Ash and the others into the woods for an outdoor lesson.
There, they encountered a Litten.
A Litten surrounded by a group of Yungoos.
"It looks like they're about to fight!"
Ash instinctively moved to stop them.
"Wait a moment, Ash."
Li Wei observed the scene calmly.
"Let's see what's going on first."
Whether or not this was the Litten Ash would eventually catch, people generally avoided interfering in situations like this.
"But they're ganging up on one Pokémon!"
Ash, who usually listened to Li Wei,
went against his instructions this time.
Li Wei wasn't angry, though, because he belatedly realized that Ash seemed to be right.
With the Yungoos ganging up on Litten, this was no longer a fair fight between Pokémon.
So there was nothing wrong with Ash stepping in.
"Stop!"
Ash stepped straight between the Yungoos and Litten. Pikachu hurried over after him and took a fighting stance.
"I won't let you gang up on someone!"
Litten stared at Ash's back in surprise.
"Pikachu!"
(Don't worry, we're here to help!)
Litten soon calmed down.
Although Litten had never been caught by a human,
Litten had actually experienced plenty of human kindness.
In Hau'oli City, Grandma, who sold fruit, prepared plenty of Berries for Litten every day.
That was one reason Litten's coat was so sleek and shiny despite being a wild Pokémon.
Just as Ash stood in front of Litten, a low, commanding bark rang out from deep in the distant woods!
"Woof!"
The bark was far more intimidating than Ash and Pikachu, making the Yungoos exchange glances.
Fear showed plainly on their faces, and they darted into the undergrowth without looking back, disappearing from