//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Pokémon: Merging of Worlds 
// by The reluctant fan 
//------------------------------//

Celestia sighed. Day court was always her least favorite part of the day. She had to listen to nobles drone on and on about what was usually some new law that would benefit them, requests to expand their businesses even more, or something equally boring and ultimately pointless. Of course, as princess it was her duty, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

As one of the snobbish Canterlot ponies was droning on about a tax increase, the doors to the room creaked open and the strangest creature strode though. Everypony in the room swiveled their head to look at the intruder and widened their eyes at what they saw. The creature was bipedal and lacked any noticeable fur. It wore a blue short-sleeved shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. atop it's head was a backwards yellow and black cap. A small tuft of it's hair was poking out of a hole in the front of the hat. What unnerved Celestia the most was it's casual posture. It strode into the throne room like it simply belonged there. After the creature got to the middle of the room, it stopped and took a strange looking claw out of it's pocket and waved nonchalantly.

"Hey, I got some pretty important information I think you should know about."

Many of the ponies gasped. A couple whispers of 'It can TALK?!' were spread around.

Celestia furrowed her brow. This creature had somehow gotten into the castle and confronted her directly, claiming to need to tell her something. While this on it's own would be hard to ignore, given the situation with the sun and moon, she made a decision.

"Day court will be closed for the remainder of the day. Anypony who has not had an audience will be rescheduled for tomorrow."

There were a couple of protests and grumblings, but all of the nobles reluctantly left the room, wondering why the princess was closing day court because of some creature when she could just toss it out and resume.

As the last of the nobles cleared out, Celestia gave the creature an odd look. "What manner of being are you?"

The creature pulled up a chair and sat down. "I'm what's called a human. Name's Ethan by the way. I'm here because a pretty big issue has cropped up that affects the both of us."

Celestia stared at this 'Ethan' in silence for a moment. "...You have my attention."

Ethan sighed. "Well, first off, I feel I should ask. Do you believe in the existence of different dimensions? Not like in a scientific or mathematical sense, but alternate realities."

Celestia blinked. She was not expecting that. "...Well, yes, I suppose I do."

"Okay, then this makes things a little easier. I don't really want to waste your time, you look important. So I'll just give you a summary. Basically, an organization in my dimension was trying to open a direct gate between worlds. The project obviously went wrong, because all of a sudden there's this huge burst of energy that went spreading across the whole universe. It rewrote certain aspects of physics and reality, and some things weren't where they used to be, or suddenly appeared. The continent we're currently on was one of these things that came out of nowhere."

Celestia gradually got more and more unsettled as Ethan's explanation continued. It seemed incredibly far-fetched, but at the same time it made sense. This did seem to line up with her inability to control the sun and moon, and in her thousand-plus years of life, she had never seen a creature such as Ethan.

"S-so you're saying that-"

"Our dimensions have somehow merged, yes. There really isn't another way to explain it. This is going to take some getting used to, and a LOT of explaining. From the Aether Foundation especially. This is the second time now they've caused an interdimensional crisis."

Ethan's words weren't even registered as Celestia tried to prevent herself from freaking out in front of him. She wasn't going to last much longer. 

The princess stood up from her throne shakily. "Excuse me for a moment. I will be back soon. I have something urgent to take care of."

As the white alicorn trotted out the door, Ethan rolled his eyes with a smile. 

"'something urgent'? Yeah, she's going to panic in private isn't she?"



After about five minutes, Celestia composed herself and exited the castle's recently installed panic room. It may have been built mainly for Twilight, but Celestia was glad to have it at this moment.

As she trotted out the door, she heard an 'eep!' of surprise. Turning around, she found herself face to face with her prodigious unicorn student, Twilight Sparkle.

"P-princess! I-I didn't know you were in there! Wait, WHY were you in there? I didn't think you ever needed the panic room!"

Celestia's eyes darted back and forth, trying to come up with an excuse. "Um, well I've been... rather on edge recently. All the stress of ruling catching up to me I suppose. I simply needed to release some tension. I wish I could chat more Twilight, but I have a guest waiting for me in the throne room."

Celestia briskly trotted off, leaving a confused and curious Twilight behind her.



Ethan was messing around on his phone to pass time when Celestia strolled back into the throne room, looking much more composed than before.

"I... apologize for exiting so hastily. I also apologize for not introducing myself sooner. I am Princess Celestia, ruler of the kingdom of Equestria. Now, you were talking about how our... dimensions have somehow merged as one?"

"Yeah. Like I said, physics and other such laws of reality have kind of gone to hell. Have you noticed any changes that would reflect that?"

Celestia hummed. "The most glaring issue is that I am no longer capable of moving the sun or moon. The most curious thing is that the day and night cycle is somehow still continuing without me."

Ethan raised a brow. "You could control the sun and moon? Huh, guess I found the right person to talk to. Ruler of a nation and possesses interesting powers. How did your sun and moon work before?"

"I simply rotated them around the planet. Is that not how yours work?"

"...not quite. The planet spins around on it's axis. it takes 24 hours for the planet to do a full rotation, as in one day. The planet orbits the sun, which is over a million times bigger than it. It's far enough away so that it appears to be about the size of the moon, which orbits the planet. The day and night cycle is the planet rotating. During the day the part of the planet you're on faces the sun, and at night the moon."

Celestia drank this information in. The explanation gave her a basic idea of how it worked, but it was still so different to what she knew.

"So, this is how day and night function for Equestria as well now?"

"Seems like it. Is there anything else that you've noticed is off?"

Celestia thought for a moment, and shook her head. "No. Magic is still working as it should, and there have been no other noticeable changes."

Ethan raised a brow. "Magic? Perhaps that's the mysterious energy he couldn't identify..."

"He?"

"A friend of mine. Perhaps you'll meet him one day."

Celestia frowned. That response seemed purposely vague.

"By the way, I kinda realized I've been the only one asking questions here. You got anything you want to know about?"

Celestia thought for a moment. "As a matter of a fact, I do. You called yourself a 'human'. Are you the only dominant species in your dimension?"

"Not by a long shot, thought a lot of people would like to disagree. We live alongside creatures called Pokémon. They come in all shapes and sizes. Last I checked there were around 900 discovered species. They tend to live in the wilderness, but they are just as intelligent as humans. Many Pokémon actually participate in battles alongside a human trainer who guides them. Pokémon are a huge part of our culture, I'm surprised I hadn't mentioned them yet."

"These 'Pokémon' sound quite interesting. Are you one of these trainers as well?"

"Sure am. One of the best in fact. My team and I have been through a lot together, and we've been able to tackle any challenge that comes our way."

Celestia chuckled at Ethan's boasts. "Well, you are quite the spectacle. Barging into my day court so casually proved that already."

"Heh, sorry bout that. But, given the circumstances, it was kinda necessary."

"I can agree on that. Speaking of, are you some sort of ambassador, or did you come here out of curiosity?"

"Well, I'm no ambassador, but I wouldn't say I'm unqualified to be. Were you hoping to have our societies meet?"

Celestia clicked her tongue. "...Not quite yet. I need to give my little ponies some time to adjust. Revealing all of this will be a chore in of itself."

Ethan chuckled. "Sucks to be you. My side of things will probably take this more or less in stride."

"How are you so sure of that?"

"Given that over the past half decade there's been either a terrorist group uprising, world ending catastrophe, or rampaging god almost bi-annually, the shock factor's kind of worn off for us. I mean less than a month ago a god stole all the light from the world, and once it was dealt with people just kind of let it slide."

Celestia was staring wide-eyed at the young trainer in shock. "Surely you're joking?"

"I wish I was. That whole debacle really cut into my vacation! I swear, I can't rest even a month without having to save the world in some way."

Celestia resisted the urge to sputter. "Y-you're saying YOU stopped that catastrophe?!"

"Yeah. As well as a whole bunch of other crap that's cropped up since I became a trainer. Turns out I'm 'the chosen one of prophecy' or some bullshit. I see it as more of an annoyance than anything."

Celestia, deciding using the panic room twice in one day would not be ideal, simply decided to accept this. "Chosen one?"

"Yeah. It basically means I'm obligated by destiny itself to save the day every time it needs saving. Really annoying honestly."

Celestia looked at Ethan. This human she met not an hour ago not only tells her that their dimensions have become one, but that he's apparently some sort of prophesied hero. The gears began to turn in the immortal princess's head, and a plan was formed.

"Ethan, was it?"

"Yeah, what up?"

"I hate to ask this of you, but there is an issue fast approaching that I believe you could be of great help in resolving. You do not have anything going on within the next month do you?"

Ethan blinked, and then groaned. "Even if I did, fate would pull me back in anyway. What's gonna happen?"

"It is not something that I feel comfortable discussing right now. But if you would be willing to assist me, it would mean a lot."

Ethan sighed. "What the fuck ever. My vacation was almost over anyway. I was planning on heading to the Galar region, but plans change I guess. I could probably set up a place to live around here somewhere."

"That won't be necessary. You can live here in the castle if you wish to stay."

"Really? Sick. I'm going to head back to Alola to grab my stuff and help the Aether Foundation out of the political mess they've gotten themselves into. I'll be back by tomorrow probably."

A thought occurred to Celestia. "Wait a moment. How did you get to Equestria so quickly if you were on another continent? And how did you get into the castle? I have guards patrolling the entire premises!"

"I had my partner Alakazam teleport me in."

"The castle has anti-teleportation wards."

"I'm assuming that's for magic. You should probably invest in something that works on psychics if you don't want that happening again. Oh, and as for the getting here thing? I just rode in on my friend Latias."

Celestia put the thing about psychics in the back of her mind for later. "Latias?"

"One of the Eon gods. Twin sister to the other Eon, Latios. If you come out when I leave you'll meet her. I'm riding back with her too."

Celestia shook her head. This enigma of a person had already revealed that they were a legendary hero, so them being friends with gods wasn't really a huge surprise.

Ethan exited through the front gates. The guards standing sentry gave him an confused look, but seeing as he was with the princess, they didn't question him. Ethan reached into his bag and pulled out a flute and played it.

Celestia gave the trainer an odd look. "What are you-"

All of a sudden a large red and white creature appeared out of thin air in front of the two, startling the princess as well and the guards. 

"Hi Ethan! Are you done already?"

"Not really Latias, I just need to head back to Alola for a bit. Gotta grab my things and have a chat with Lusamine and Colress. Then I'm coming back. Something's apparently gonna go down here soon."

"Oh, okay! Another new adventure huh? You'd better let me get some action! It's been soooo long since I've had a good fight!"

"I used you against Cynthia like, a week ago."

"Yeah, like I said, it's been forever!" Latias' eyes travelled over to Celestia and the eon gasped.

"Ooh, hi! Are you Ethan's new friend? Hi, I'm Latias!"

Celestia was a little overwhelmed. Was this Latias really a god? She was so... bubbly.

"Uhm... yes. I am Celestia. Pleased to meet you."

"Great to meet you too! I hope we'll be great friends!"

Ethan rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. "Alright Latias, enough of that. I've got to get back to Alola remember?"

"Oh! Hehe, right! We'll be off then. Nice meeting you!"

Ethan hopped on Latias and waved his hand. "I'll be back by tomorrow. Tell your guards not to skewer me, or I'll have to teleport in again."

The trainer and legendary Pokémon lifted off into the sky, and suddenly shot away, letting loose a sonic boom. Celestia flinched slightly from the sound, and the citizens of Canterlot looked into the sky in shock. The princess watched the sky a moment longer before turning around towards the castle.

One of the guards raised a hoof. "Pardon me for asking princess, but who were those strange creatures?"

"The smaller bipedal one called itself a human, and he referred to the one called Latias as a deity of some kind. The human will be back tomorrow. He is going to be staying in the castle for a while, so let the other guards know not to attack him."

The guard seemed rather confused, but saluted anyway. "Of course your highness." 

Celestia trotted back into the castle, and found Twilight staring out one of the windows. The lavender unicorn looked towards the princess in awe. 

"Princess, who, and what, was that?"

Celestia sighed. She supposed that telling her student about the recent information was a good starting point.