> Pokémon: Merging of Worlds > by The reluctant fan > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Aether Foundation was an organization dedicated to protecting and housing endangered Pokemon. Primarily located in the Alola region, it was a safe haven for Pokemon and trainers alike. However, the Aether Foundation also had another side that very few knew about. within the lowest levels of the artificial island located in between Akala and Ula'ula island, there existed a laboratory. It was here that the foundation's scientists carried out secret experiments ranging from the creation of new Pokeballs, to artificial Pokemon, to interdimensional sciences. After the world champion had saved the world from Necrozma, a deity of light gone mad, the president of the Aether Foundation Lusamine had become interested with the alternate realities that lay beyond ultra space. Of course, she knew that travelling through ultra space was fraught with peril, not to mention you needed the assistance of the legendary Pokemon Solgaleo or Lunala to access it. This was why she had issued the project that the foundation's scientists were currently working on. Lusamine had hired a visiting scientist named Colress to assist them with her most ambitious project yet: A direct gate between their dimension and another. Now, Lusamine was no fool. She knew that this was a dangerous idea. Despite her immense curiosity, she forced herself to get the go ahead from the world champion. Ethan Gold, the savior of the world/universe over half a dozen times over, as well as the first ever world champion, was well known for obvious reasons. Having travelled all over the world and having taken down threat after threat, he was an inspiration to all. Of course, for all of his fame and talent, he was still only a teenager. After winning the first ever world tournament and becoming world champion, he felt he needed a vacation, and set off to Alola for some peace and quiet. Of course, trouble always seemed to find the raven haired boy. After beginning the island challenge along with his new friend Hau, a pair of mysterious people who called themselves the Ultra Recon Squad made their aquantaince. If their nearly pure white skin and odd garments didn't give it away, their complete lack of knowledge on how the world worked let Ethan know that something was off about them. It was only after realizing that they were from another dimension did problems begin. The Recon Squad had come to their dimension in hopes of finding a way to quell the wrath of Necrozma, a god of light that plagued their dimension. Of course a delusional Lusamine along with the leader of the gang known as Team Skull decided that they could handle it themselves and jumped into ultra space to stop the mad god. Of course they failed, and Ethan had to play clean up. After yet another world threatening catastrophe, the young world champ simply wished to spend the rest of his vacation relaxing. As such, when Lusamine, now humbled after her past actions approached him about a project with ultra space, he wanted nothing to do with it. She had stated that Colress was working with her, and Ethan figured that the eccentric genius was competent enough to help her avoid any catastrophe, so he gave the project an O.K. Ethan was spending the day lounging on the beach where Professor Kukui lived. With a cold glass of Oran berry juice in hand and his team off training against whatever legendary he could get to help them that day, it was looking to be another pleasant day. "Ahhh. Man, after seven years of constant action, it feels good to finally have some time to myself. Maybe I should go visit Hau tomorrow, he's seemed pretty busy since he became champion of Alola." The black haired boy spent a while simply gazing out at the rolling waves of the ocean, watching as the occasional wild Mantine jumped up into the air. His eyes began to close as he dozed off. "Yeah, I could sure get used to this..." Within the laboratory of the Aether Foundation, the first definitive test on the dimensional gate was about to get underway. Scientists tapped away at keyboards and monitored systems as all the failsafes were prepared. "Colress sir, all preparations are complete. Should we begin the testing?" A man in a lab coat ticked away at at the device on his arm and hummed in thought. "Everything appears to be in order, yes. Go fetch miss Lusamine and we can begin." The employee gave a curt nod and walked off. A couple minutes later, he returned with the president in tow. "Everything is ready then? Let's get this underway, I promised Lillie that I would treat her to lunch today, so I can't wait for too long." "Alright! Project 'Warp' test one is a go!" Switches were flipped and lights flashed as the machines worked at building enough energy to open a gate. Inside the heavily protected room where the gate was meant to appear, there was a small ripple in the air, and a crack gradually started to form. Colress looked on, his ever present calm smile on his face. Lusamine smirked in anticipation. It was working! the crack widened until the beginnings of the other side began to show. There was a sunny sky, and a couple of birds flew past the point of view. Colress looked over to the operators. "I believe this is a satisfactory first test. You may begin to shut the gate down." The employees began to shut the machines down, but the gate still remained active. "S-sir... the gate won't close!" Colress frowned. "Oh dear. Well this is why we do test runs after all. Whatever may occur, it should remain inside the room." The gate began to warp as the lack of energy made it unstable. the image if the other world wavered a bit before the gate snapped shut, eliciting a blinding flash. Everyone in the room shielded their eyes as the flash enveloped the room, followed by a wave of force that warped the light around them and knocked people and machinery alike over. When everyone began to get up, the room was a mess. broken computers and wiring were strewn all over, and the protective glass that allowed viewing into the gate containment room was shattered. Luckily no one was hurt, but a small fortune in tech was ruined. Lusamine shakily got to her feet and stared at Colress. "Colress, what the hell was that?!" The scientist adjusted his glasses and stared in shock. "That was... unanticipated." "Ethan. Ethan! Wake up!" "Gah!" The world champion jolted out of his lounge chair upon hearing the voice in his head. "A-Arceus?! What's going on that's so important you had to wake me up?" "A mysterious energy just burst across the entire planet, and it didn't stop there. It's going across the entire universe. Palkia is tracking it for me and the effects are unsettling. Certain aspects of physics and reality are being warped and changed as it passes. There's also the matter of the new continent that suddenly appeared just now." Ethan blinked. "Okay, okay. One thing at a time. So you're saying that some crazy energy is changing reality all across the universe, and what's this about another continent?" "I feel like we need to talk face to face. I am going to warp you to the Hall of Origin now." Ethan sighed. "Great... there goes the rest of my vacation..." The teenage champion was then enveloped in a bright white light and flashed out of existence. Right after this, Professor Kukui opened the door to his lab carrying a platter of food. "Hey Ethan, lunch is ready! I hope you like... where'd he go?" > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethan's eyes adjusted to the blinding light of the Hall of Origin to see the creator of all in all of his glory standing before him. His reaction? "So can you explain what the hell you were talking about?" "Ethan, I know we are on casual terms with each other, but I'd still appreciate it if you refrained from saying that word in my presence." "Right, right. Holy being and all that. But seriously, can't I enjoy a single month to myself without something happening?" "It would appear not, such is the burden of being the chosen one." Ethan grumbled under his breath. "Stupid fucking destiny and it's shitty rules." Arceus rolled his eyes. "If you're quite done acting like a child, I could show you what we are dealing with.” Arceus projected an image of an unknown continent that did not exist beforehand. “Huh… should we be worried about that?” “It does not appear to be of any immediate threat. The planet has somehow grown larger to accommodate for it. However I would like you to go investigate after our conversation to see if there are any beings living there that would threaten my Pokémon’s safety. If there are, have your team deal with them however you see fit.” “Ok, got it. Anything else?” “There is another thing that concerns me. An entirely new energy has made it’s presence known because of this sudden change. I cannot identify what it is, but as long as it isn’t causing trouble, it is nothing to take immediate action on.” “Okay, so you want me to head over to this new uncharted land to not only look for threats, but try and figure out what this ‘energy’ is. Speaking of, can’t you just do this yourself?” “Ethan, you know how I feel about taking part in the mortal world’s issues.” “Right. You’re too lazy to do anything, so you have me do it instead.” “That’s not how it is and you know it. Now be on your way.” “Wait, one more thing. Do you know what caused the sudden surge of energy that caused all this?” “I do not know the reasons for it, but the energy originated from the Aether Foundation.” Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fucking Lusamine… whatever. I’ll deal with her after I deal with this. Thanks for the info Arceus. Wait… how did you know a new island appeared, but you don’t know what was going on in the Aether Foundation?” “We’ve been over this. I don’t like spying on the activities of mortals. I see my universe change, but not how. I leave that up to the legendaries.” “Y’know, for a god, you’re really lazy.” “…Just go and investigate the continent already.” Arceus teleported Ethan back down to earth and sighed. “I can never keep a dignified image around him, he asks too many questions…” Princess Celestia was confused and concerned. She had awoken to the rays of light shining down upon her form, something that shouldn’t be possible given she was the one to raise the sun. When she felt for her connection to the celestial body, she found that it was still there for both the sun and moon, but moving the sun proved to be an impossible task. It felt as though it was further away, and much larger than normal. That shouldn’t be possible though. The moon was a stranger phenomenon. Unlike the sun, it didn’t feel much bigger or further away, but she still found she could not move it. The more she failed to interact with the celestial bodies, the more she began to panic. How were the day and night to cycle without guidance? Not only that, but her little ponies would be in an absolute panic if they found out their princess could no longer cycle the day and night. But the most terrifying thought? Her sister. She was still trapped in the moon, and if Celestia no longer had control of the two bodies… She frantically searched for any sign of her sister’s magical signature. To her immense relief, it was still there on the moon, and stronger than the last time she checked. The long awaited return of her sister was less than a month away, and she didn’t want all of her plans to free her of her curse to go to ruin. Celestia trotted her way to the kitchen for some tea. Her nerves were shot after this strange change, and she needed calming. She sat down at the dining table and a servant came forward with her breakfast. Thanking the pony, Celestia began to eat. She needed to think of what to tell her subjects when they inevitably noticed the difference with the sun. Ethan shot through the shy at hypersonic speeds atop the back of Latias. The legendary Pokémon had been more than willing to assist him in getting to the mysterious continent. “So what do you think it’s gonna be like? Do you think that there will be new friends to meet there?” Ethan chuckled. “Well, given that this is probably a result of Lusamine’s whole ‘dimensional gateway’ project or whatever, it’s not a stretch to say that there will be life there. Whether or not they’ll be friendly, or even sentient, remains to be seen.” The continent gradually came into view, and Ethan tapped Latias on the side. “Here it comes, slow down a bit so I can see what we pass.” The Eon Pokémon slowed to about Mach 2 as they began to pass over the land. They soared over a desert, and then a forest, with nothing relatively notable popping up. After they got past the forest however, they saw what appeared to be a small town, judging by the group of buildings. “Well Latias, I think we can say they’re at least sentient. Go invisible, I don’t really want us being spotted.” They passed a couple more towns, spotting some railroads as well, until they came upon a giant mountain. It was what was in the mountain that got their attention however. “A castle..? Well I suppose there’s weirder locations to find one. N’s literally rose out of the ground back in Unova. Fly us closer Latias, this place looks important, and possibly a good place for introductions.” Rainbow Dash, self proclaimed fastest flyer in Equestria and captain of the Ponyville weather team, was blown back by a huge gust of wind following a deafening ‘BANG!’. She righted herself before she hit the ground and looked around frantically for what could’ve caused it. “What the hay was that?!” She looked off towards Canterlot and saw a cone of air blasting towards the city at insane speeds. What was most perplexing was that there didn’t appear to be anything causing it. “What is that? Some sort of attack? Well, I’m sure the princess can take care of it, whatever it is.” Rainbow shrugged and went off to find a new place to nap, given the cloud she was using had been blasted apart from the air pressure. As the legendary and the world champion approached the castle, they slowed down to about 50mph and lowered their altitude to get a better look at the area. Ethan squinted in confusion as he saw the figures walking the streets and the guards at the castle doors. “Equines? Weird. Not as weird as ultra beasts, but still weird. Well, whatever, I’m sure someone important is inside this castle, but it’s not like I can just walk up to those guards and ask for an audience. They’d tell me to buzz off at best and think I’m a monster and try to kill me at worst. Luckily I have solutions for that!” Ethan had Latias set him down in a remote ally where he wouldn’t be spotted and pulled out his portable Pokeball swapper. It was a new device that had been developed by the Galar region’s Macro Cosmos. It was going to be released to the public soon, but being world champion got Ethan early access. Swapping out one of his current team members for his Alakazam, he let the Psi Pokemon out of his ball, he made a shushing expression. “Hey Alakazam, you see that castle? I need you to teleport us just past the main gate so I can get in.” “A simple task, but may I ask why?” “You know that project with dimensions Lusamine and Colress were working on? Yeah, well it backfired and now we have a new continent. I need to get in there to try and talk with someone, but I really don’t want to deal with those guards.” “Remind me why you let that woman go through with that idea of hers?” “I thought Colress would be enough brains to prevent a problem! Clearly not, but I’ll deal with those two later. Now, teleport?” “Very well.” Alakazam held it’s spoons up, and he and Ethan flickered out of focus. Latias flew off, not wanting to wait in the dirty alleyway. She’d hear the Eon Flute if Ethan needed her anyway. The trainer and Pokémon reappeared inside a hallway full of stained glass windows. Ethan nodded in thanks and returned his partner to his ball. With that, the champion began to traverse the castle, trying to find anyone important looking to talk to. He quickly ducked behind cover whenever he heard one of the small equines approaching. Ethan noticed there were three kinds. Those with wings, those with horns, and those with neither. Eventually, he came upon a large door. Looking through the keyhole, he saw a gathering of the equines, these ones wearing fancy clothing. They were talking about political jargon like taxes and building projects that Ethan didn’t really care about. His attention was drawn to the pristine white equine with wings and a horn sitting on a throne in the middle of the room. Oh, and it had a tiara. “Jackpot. Now, how do I go about this? No real way to be stealthy, given it’s a full room, so I guess we go for the dramatic entrance.” Ethan pushed the door open and strode through. All the eyes in the room turned to him, widening in shock, confusion, fear, or some mix of the three. Ethan smirked and waved a casual hand. “Hey, I got some pretty important information I think you should know about.” > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Latias had dropped Ethan off at Aether Paradise and the world champion had promptly gone right to Lusamine and Colress and chewed them out. "I thought you were supposed to be taking every possible precaution! How did this happen?!" Colress tried to look as formal as possible. "I apologize for the result of our little experiment. We were unprepared for how unstable the portal would be, and none of our precautions amounted to much. I can assure you that next time we will-" "Oh HELL no! There's not gonna BE a next time! I'll have you know that this is the one of the best results we could've gotten from this catastrophe!" Lusamine was afraid to ask but did anyway. "What would the worst-case scenario have been?" Ethan looked her dead in the eyes. "Both dimensions could have collapsed in on themselves and ceased to exist." Both Lusamine and Colress went pale at that. "Have we come to an understanding? Good. I'll handle the media for you. Just promise me you won't mess with ultra-space anymore." Both Aether president and scientist nodded. "Good. Now I'm gonna go explain what's happened to the world, and then I'm heading over to this new region. If I find out you've broken your promise, I'll have the both of you tossed into the distortion realm. Cyrus is there, you'll love him." Ethan sighed as he packed his things. The media was always annoying. Not because of the lack of trust, people trusted him for the most part. It was mostly just how pushy and demanding the paparazzi and talk show hosts could be for more details. He let the masses know what they needed to know. Nothing more nothing less. "So you're leaving?" Ethan looked over his shoulder to where Lillie and Nebby were watching him. The deity of the sun was watching Ethan with interest. "Yeah. I've already said goodbye to Hau and Professor Kukui. I would've stayed a bit longer, but duty calls apparently." "Yeah... I get that. It's just that, you've done so much for everyone in Alola... you've done so much for me. Without you, I never would've found the confidence to become a trainer myself." Ethan looked up and gave Lillie a smile. "Lillie, you're my friend. You don't need to thank me for that. But I appreciate the thought regardless." Lillie smiled. "I'm glad you think of me like that. I promise that Me, Nebby and all my Pokémon will train really hard for the next world tournament! We'll be sure to give you a fight to remember!" Nebby looked at Lillie with a little shock. "You're certainly fired up." "Of course I am Nebby! I want to show Ethan how much I can grow! Gladion and Mother as well!" Solgaleo chuckled. "Whatever happened to that fragile, nervous wreck of a girl who helped me escape her mother all those months ago? You've certainly grown Lillie." Lillie blushed a little and gave her partner/friend a hug. "That means a lot Nebby! But you've grown a lot too! There's no way you'd fit in my bag now!" Nebby huffed. "Good riddance. I much prefer the Pokeball over that blasted bag." Ethan laughed. He knew it was a good idea to talk Lillie out of letting him catch Solgaleo. They were a perfect match, those two. Besides, he already had Lunala at his side anyway. "Well, it's been fun, but I've got to head out. I'll see you later, both of you." "Bye Ethan! Promise you'll come visit!" "Are you kidding? This region is paradise! I'm coming here for all my vacations from now on!" Lillie and Nebby laughed as Ethan climbed atop the back of Latias. The Eon looked over and waved. "Hi Nebby/Solgaleo! I promise we'll try to find time for you to meet all of the legendaries soon!" "I'm not in any real rush. Take all the time you need." Latias nodded, and then flew off, leaving a giant cloud of sand in her wake. Ethan sighed as he leapt off of Latias onto the ground. "Man... I've never actually crashed at a castle before. This'll be an experience." He walked up to the gates and nodded towards the guards. They nodded back after a slight hesitation. Clearly they were still slightly wierded out by him and the general situation. Ethan supposed that made sense. These ponies weren't used to crazy things like this happening. Ethan entered the castle and was greeted by Celestia in the main hallway. "Ah, Ethan. You've returned. I trust you've taken care of what you needed to?" "Yep. The ones responsible for this whole mess have been ordered to never do so again, and the media has been given the general story." Celestia raised a brow. "How much did you tell them?" "A lot, but not everything. It was explained how the merge happened, but not who did it, for obvious reasons. They were told about this new land and its inhabitants, but only those granted express permission by either me or someone I trust is allowed to come here." Celestia gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was worried we would be having quite a few visitors a little too soon. But how do you know that your rule will be followed by all?" "If someone comes here without permission, they'll have to answer to me, which no one would want to do, given I can just have Palkia put them in a pocket dimension prison or something. Upon Celestia's bewildered expression, Ethan elaborated. "Palkia's the god of space." "...Of course. How many gods are there exactly?" Ethan thought about that for a moment before giving an answer. "A lot. Telling you about all of them and their roles would take a long time, so I'll hold off unless you ask about a specific one." Celestia decided to brush the topic off. She didn't want to be overwhelmed so soon after Ethan had returned. "I see, well I'll save the questions for later I suppose. Come, let me show you to the room you will be staying in." Celestia lead Ethan upstairs and around a couple of halls. The veteran trainer thought he saw something purple out of the corner of his eye multiple times, but deemed it nothing more than a curious servant or something. "Here we are. These are the guest rooms. Yours is the third on the left. Do not worry about keeping your room tidy when you leave it, a maid will be by to clean it while you are away." Ethan looked inside the bedroom. For something meant for smaller creatures like ponies, it was rather spacious. The bed would fit him and he had room to spare. "I gotta say it's pretty nice. I've stayed at some fancy places before and this is right up there." "I'm glad you approve of it. Now, before I leave you, there is someone I would like you to meet Ethan." Celestia turned down the hallway and smiled mirthfully. "You can come out my student, I know you are there." A small 'eep!' was heard from around the corner and a lavender unicorn trotted out from her cover shamefully. "Sorry Princess, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just saw you with the human again and I couldn't help my curiosity!" Celestia chuckled. "It's no problem, Twilight. In fact, I think it's about time you two met one another. Ethan, This is my personal student, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, this is Ethan, whom I told you about last night." Twilight nervously glanced up at Ethan. He was so much weirder looking up close! He walked on two legs and didn't have any fur. He had claws like Spike, but his were duller and softer than the dragon's. Not to mention he was around as tall as the princess! Ethan smirked and rolled his eyes upon seeing the nervousness on Twilight's face. "It's fine. I'm not do anything malicious. I'm just here to try and help out with what's going on right now." Twilight relaxed a little, and finally managed to speak up. "You're from the other dimension, right?" "We inhabit the same dimension now but yes, I get what you're trying to say." Out of nowhere, Twilight produced a paper and quill. "I have SO many questions!" Celestia smiled. "Well, I'll leave the two of you to get comfortable with one another. I have day court to get to and given how I had to cancel yesterday, it will be quite a busy session." With that, the monarch of Equestria trotted away. It was only after ten minutes of constant questions that Ethan realized he'd been had. > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethan was starting to think he was going to die here, answering this unicorn's questions the rest of his life. He had to say something, quick. "Can you PLEASE stop asking questions already? You've asked so many that you're just rephrasing old ones and acting like they're different!" Twilight jumped a little at the outburst, and then blushed when she realized he was right. "Eeheh, sorry. The princess and Spike do say that I tend to go a little overboard with questions sometimes. But I'm just so fascinated by the new possibilities to learn! A whole new world with a whole new set of rules! And all these 'Pokémon' Too! It's just so-" "You're rambling again." Twilight caught herself and coughed awkwardly. "Right, sorry. So, uh, is there anything you want to ask me?" "Well, to start off, who's Spike? I know the princess is Celestia obviously, but I haven't met a Pony named Spike." "Well, Spike isn't a Pony, rather he's a-" "Hey Twilight, are you over here? You disappeared all of a sudden and-" A small lizard like creature came around the corner and froze when it saw Ethan talking with Twilight. "Huh..? What... are you? Are you that thing Twilight said Princess Celestia was talking to yesterday?" Twilight laughed awkwardly. "Well, this is awkward. Ethan, this is Spike. He's a baby dragon. I hatched him during my entrance exam for Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns. He's been like a little brother to me ever since. Spike, this is Ethan. The princess is letting him stay here in the castle for the time being so that we can learn more about each other and our different cultures." Spike looked confused for a moment before he widened his eyes. "Wait, aren't you that guy that said he came from another dimension?!" Ethan sighed. "Again, same dimension now, but yes. I'm the one you're thinking of." Spike raised a brow. "Same dimension? What do you mean by that?" "Scientists in my dimension messed with interdimensional travel, it backfired and merged our two realities. I'll go more into detail if you care about quantum physics and super advanced mathematics, but you probably don't so I won't." Spike just stared at Ethan for a moment before shrugging. "Okay? I mean that's pretty weird, but it's also kind of cool y'know?" "You accepted that rather quickly." Spike smirked. "I live with Twilight and her crazy experiments. I'm used to crazy and impossible things happening." Twilight gave Spike a look. "Hey, everything I do is theoretically possible." "Twilight, you once teleported us into a book. Not like inside of a closed book, but into the actual pages of a book." Ethan chuckled. "I can see how that would feel bizarre. I'm assuming that had something to do with magic? Now that's something I want to learn about. Perhaps it might even fit somewhere in the typing chart." Spike blinked. "Typing chart? What?" Twilight looked rather curious as well. "Yeah, you did tell me about how Pokémon have different types, but not which ones there were or how they worked." Spike looked back and forth between Twilight and Spike. "Pokémon? What are you two talking about?" Ethan cleared his throat. "Okay. There are 18 Pokémon types, and these typings apply to Pokémon moves as well. Certain moves may be more effective on a Pokémon that type is strong against. For instance, a water type move would be quite effective against a fire type Pokémon. That may seem simple to get down, but remember that there are 18 types, all with strengths and weaknesses. many Pokémon even have two types, making the matchup chart more confusing." Spike looked more lost than ever. "Seriously. What are you talking about?" Twilight snapped out of her note-taking mode and looked over to her assistant/adopted brother. "Oh, I'm sorry Spike, you weren't here when Ethan was explaining about Pokémon were you? They're these fascinating creatures with the most amazing abilities! Well, that's the impression I've gotten from listening to Ethan anyway." "No, you're right about that. Pokémon are incredible. And one thing most Pokémon love is a good battle! That's why the type chart matters. It determines which Pokémon will have a direct advantage against others. Of course, there are other things to take into consideration like abilities and climate, but typing is the most basic." Spike looked interested now. "Now THAT sounds awesome! I'd love to see one of these Pokémon myself! I doubt there would be any around here though, given they come from your end." "Not true at all. I happen to be a Pokémon trainer, someone who works with and directs Pokémon in battle. I can show you one of my partners if you want." Twilight and Spike jumped at the opportunity to see one of these mysterious creatures up close. "Yeah! That sounds awesome!" "Then it's a plan. But I don't think we should in here. The Pokémon I have in mind prefers wide open areas. Do you know of a clear area around that would work?" Twilight thought on that. "Well, there is the training yard for the guards. It's just outside the castle, and they shouldn't be there right now, so that could work!" "Cool. Lead the way, and I'll show you what a Pokémon can do!" Ethan stood in the middle of a dirt field, Spike and Twilight watching from behind. "So, you said Spike is a dragon?" "Yeah? Why, will that be a problem?" "Not really. I just thought I'd let you know that dragon happens to be a Pokémon type. the type my partner I have in mind happens to be." Spike and Twilight were in shock at that. "Dragons are a type of Pokémon?! What about the dragons of Equestria?" "I'm not sure how that would affect them, but I have ab experiment that we could try out later to test it." Spike gulped. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that..." Ethan reached to his belt, grabbing a Pokeball, much to the confusion of the pony and dragon. "What is he..." "Alright, Haxorus, come on out." The ball opened in a flash of light, revealing a bipedal red, green and grey Pokémon with enormous tusks. It raised its head, ready for a battle, only to find an empty field with nothing but Ethan and two weak looking Pokémon behind him. "Haxorus?" "No, they're not Pokémon, I'll explain later I called you out so that you can show them some of what you can do." Twilight looked confused. "Wait, you understood that? I could only hear it say its name." "Yeah. I learned how to understand Pokémon a while ago. It's actually rather difficult unless you're an aura adept or a psychic." "If you can tell me the basics on how to learn, I'm sure I can create a translation spell." "Oh, you can do that? Hell yeah! If we can get translation like that mainstream, Pokémon and People will be closer than ever! There are a couple prototype translation devices, but they're so inefficient that they're hardly usable." Haxorus just looked between his trainer and the strange purple creature, completely lost. Spike chose that moment to speak up. "Um... I actually understood him too." Twilight looked shocked. "Really? How?" Ethan hummed. "Perhaps it has something to do with you being a dragon yourself. I'd wager you can only understand dragon types like that, but that's still pretty useful for you." Haxorus raised a claw. "So, uh, when am I supposed to do my thing?" "Oh, sorry Haxorus, I got wrapped up in conversation. These are Twilight and Spike. They're denizens of this place known as Equestria, a dimension that got mixed up with ours after the Aether Foundation fucked with wormholes. I'm teaching them the basics about Pokemon, and I thought it would be cool if you showed off some of your moves. I do want to go over some things first though." Spike was still staring at the large dragon type. "You're so awesome looking! I hope I look just as cool when I get older too!" "Heh, believe it or not, I was actually your size when I met Ethan." "Wait, really?! He doesn't look that old!" "He's not. I was an Axew back then. When I became a part of Ethan's team, I trained really hard, and participated in a lot of tough battles. Eventually, all the hard work paid off, and I evolved into the Haxorus I am today." "Huh? Evolved? What's that supposed to mean?" Ethan, who had been translating the conversation for Twilight, snapped his fingers. "Thanks for bringing that up Haxorus. I figure that I should talk about evolution. You see, Pokemon can start off looking one way, and become something else through a process called evolution." Ethan reached into his pocket to pull out his Pokedex. "Hey, Rotom. Try to keep quiet for now. I don't really want to have to explain you in the middle of another lecture." Upon hearing a beep of acknowledgement from his Pokedex, he pressed a couple of buttons and a screen of Haxorus next to two other similar Pokémon came up. "You see, Haxorus started out as this one here, called Axew. It was after a lot of hard work and training that he evolved into Fraxure, and after that, Haxorus. When a Pokémon evolves, they gain a huge boost in power. Of course, this isn't always immediately helpful. It may take a Pokémon a while to get used to their new body after evolving, especially those with more dramatic changes. There is also the fact that Pokémon tend to learn moves easier before they evolve." Twilight listened with rapt attention. "That's so fascinating! Can all Pokémon evolve like that?" "Not all. Some Pokémon only evolve once, and other can't evolve at all. There are also different ways that certain Pokémon evolve. Many Pokémon require the power of certain stones to evolve, and some evolve through intense feelings of friendship or love. There are other ways too, certain Pokémon can only evolve during certain times of day, under certain weather conditions, the list goes on. For as much as we know about the phenomenon of Pokémon evolution, a lot remains a mystery." Twilight giggled. "You sound like a real expert on the subject." "Well, I am a very well known trainer, and I'm friends with around 6 world renown Pokémon professors. But anyway, Haxorus, I think it's about time to start!" "Finally! I was getting bored." "Alright. So first up, Haxorus is a pure dragon type, which means he's strong against other dragons, and resists fire, water, grass, and electric types. However, dragon types also have weaknesses. They are weak to Ice, Dragon, and Fairy type attacks. In order to overcome those weaknesses, you need to have tools and strategies to deal with them. Haxorus has both. Iron Tail for Fairy types, multiple Fighting type moves for Ice, and we have clever strategies for dealing with other dragons." Twilight wrote down the information with vigor while Spike waited in anticipation for Haxorus to show what he could do. "Alright Haxorus, I don't want us causing too much commotion, so let's try and take it easy, okay?" "Fine, fine. It takes all the fun out of it though." "You'll get a good battle soon enough. Just help me out for now. You see that boulder there? I want you to use Dragon Claw on it." Haxorus marched up to the large boulder just off to the side of the training field. He raised a claw up and it glowed with draconic power, sharpening the digits and extending them. He swung downwards, cutting the boulder into three chunks, like a hot knife through butter. The air pressure from the attack even dug small gouges into the ground that went on for several feet. Spike and Twilight watched in shock as Haxorus and Ethan turned back to them nonchalantly. "And that's Dragon Claw. It's a fairly common move for dragon types to know, but it's rather powerful. Of course, Haxorus held back for that attack. I doubt the guards would appreciate a trench being dug right next to their training grounds." The pony and baby dragon tried to restart their brains. "That was him HOLDING BACK?!" Just how powerful are these Pokémon?!" "Okay, I can see how that would freak you out. To be fair though, Haxorus is much stronger than is average for his species, which are quite powerful Pokémon to begin with. Trust me, not every Pokémon can do something like that. At least not without the right training." Twilight said nothing, deciding to instead write down what she witnessed for further introspection. Spike on the other hand looked back up at Haxorus with stars in his eyes. "WOW! That was the coolest thing I've ever seen! It was like straight out of a comic book! What other awesome things can you do Haxorus?" Haxorus gave a cocky smirk. "Oh, you want to see more? You see that hill over the horizon?" Ethan gave Haxorus a warning glare. Haxorus smiled and started charging up an attack. "DRAGON PULSE!"