Going forwards with the Renewedverse

Recently, I've been reading about the Lunaverse. I was impressed by how detailed the universe bible was despite it being unfinished, and realised how disorganised the Newverse was by comparison. I was just reading RainbowDoubleDash's blog post about the premise of the Lunaverse, and realised that was a good way to express the concept of the "Renewedverse".

One morning, without warning, millions strange creatures appeared all over Equestria and beyond. They came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, resembling animals, plants, and things no-one on Equus had ever seen, but they all had one thing in common: they caused worldwide panic. Many nations declared a state of emergency as the creatures attacked citizens and damaged property. Strangely, though, for every creature that caused harm, there was at least one who brought help.

Eventually, the peoples of Equus established communication with these creatures.

"Please don't hurt us. We're not monsters."

It was discovered that the creatures belonged to a group called "Pokémon", with some claiming that they used to be "humans". They said that they came from another world, but they had no idea how they arrived on Equus.

So where did they come from?

A group of Equuians and Pokémon went to investigate, and eventually discovered that this was the doing of Arceus, Creator of the Pokémon Realm. He brought the Pokémon over to another world due to his disillusionment with humankind, and thought that the peoples of Equus could teach them how to live better, no realising that Equus wasn't as peaceful as it seemed at first. He transformed the humans he deemed "worthy" into Pokémon. After the transfer, he used up so much power that he had to hide in a secluded place to regain it.

Several Equuians are shocked by the prospect of a being forcibly transforming others, and when the former humans protest about it, Arceus tells them that they should be thankful. He COULD reverse everything he's done, but he's stubborn and doesn't WANT to.

Everyone has to learn to deal with a set of circumstances that were forced upon them. Despite the rocky start, Pokémon were eventually integrated into society. In the years that followed, the word "Pokémon" became meaningless outside of taxonomy: each individual species was just another kind of person.

Still... most of the former humans missed their old lives, and wanted to ensure that humanity would never be forgotten.

The "Renewedverse" (tentative title) is a hypothetical crossover setting between My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Pokémon, that takes the premise of A New World, A New Way by Zeusdemigod131 and updates it to be closer to canon, which has changed a lot since it was originally written. It also portrays a VERY different Arceus. The idea came about because the Newverse is so tangled, it's hard to fit a new story in. I'm not going to be all arrogant and act like I'm "improving" the Newverse, or anything; in theory, the "Renewedverse" would co-exist with it.

• It begins some time in the middle of season 8.
• There's not a "legendary pantheon". Some (mainly box mascots) are godlike, while others are just rare.

But... I can't do this alone. For one, I don't know if I could handle running an entire verse. For two, I have a lot of blanks to fill in...

• Which continuity is the Pokémon world based on? Anime? Games? Some combination of the two? Which versions are canon?
• What should I call this?
• How do I begin this? On one hand, I'm imagining having the first story be about the protagonists of the show dealing with the Pokémon problem and eventually meeting Arceus. On the other hand, I'm not confident enough to write about them, and I feel like starting small with a story set in Mt. Aris and Seaquestria, and building the 'verse from there.
• What should I do with the Ultra Beasts?
• How do I differentiate this from the Newverse more?