Question: I have a remote `origin/master` and a remote branch `remote_branch`.
I also have local `master` and a local branch `local_branch`. When I try to pull the local `master` into the `local_branch` with `git pull master local_branch` I get this. 

```
fatal: 'master' does not appear to be a git repository
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.
Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.

```

However, when I do `git branch` I see this:

```
* loca_branch
  master

```

Why can't I pull from my local `master`?

Answer: 
merge changes from local\_branch **TO** master

```
git checkout master
git merge local_branch

```

merge changes from master **TO** local\_branch

```
git checkout local_branch
git merge master

```

Pull is when you have an 'origin' repo :)
`git pull` is an alias for `git fetch && git merge` you cannot fetch from local branches (only from remotes) - actually you don't need to, if your intention is to merge `master` into `local_branch`, just use `git merge master` when you are on `local_branch`.