Alternate Universe (Series)

The Alternate Universe series is a currently active mashup of other series that were also active at the time of 2001 from creators Patrick (the one writing this) and Jared. This long running series has a wide reach beyond its comic origins, with animated shorts, fan art, spin-offs and photo comics dedicated to the world and characters within. Because the series includes many other game franchises, it is likely easier to get into in its current state, but there's also a lot of early installment weirdness and way past relevant inside jokes to wade through due to the comic's origins as a cartoon biography of the creators.

## A World Where Non-Canon IS the Canon

Alternate Universe is similar to Smash Bros, except narrowed down to things the series creators liked, and in my case, still like. Even then, the primary focus is put upon the Kirby series, specifically lifted from Kirby's Adventures, and new Pokemon characters brought to life from our trainer Pokemon in Gold and Silver.

Alternate Universe doesn't follow a single story, but instead follows the continuous day-to-day antics of many characters, no matter how mundane those antics are. Events primarily take place on the planet Popstar, home to Kirby, who happens to possibly be one of the greatest defenders in the galaxy in the Nintendo verse (no, really. His power level is absolutely insane if you ever stop to consider it, and how many demons and leviathans he's snuffed out of existence). However, in Alternate Universe, ALL of the planets exist. That's right, even the ones you're thinking of right now. And travel between the planets has been perfected to a point where tourists and immigration are no big deal. The only planets to be left out of the loop are Earth, and any that are hostile or constantly in a state of war.

Because anything goes, stories in the series can focus on action, humor, or aim for a more down to earth character building session. Status quo is typically what runs this series, but characters do change and learn and retain lessons from earlier experiences. Characters also age, but very very slowly. Alternate Universe by and large takes place in a floating timeline, in the unspecified year of 20XX.

So far, the series has been through a Pokemon League and follow up Pokemon tournaments, has been invaded by a specialized cluster of Dark Matter, has constantly been antagonized by ascended action hero Ash Ketchum (until he got bored), had the planet destroyed by Giygas, had the world altered to match the universe of the Kirby anime, and many, many more smaller things that are actually far more important, because at the end of the day, chasing off invaders doesn't mean anything. It's the impact that having each other to depend on and love as one tightly bound unit that makes the significant difference.

Overall, the most important stories seem to be about the growth of characters, and how their lives have changed by being introduced to each other, living with each other, growing with each other, and loving one another.

## Origin and Background

   Alternate Universe began life as Poppistar Universe, which was some bizarre non-portmanteau of Popstar and Pokemon (Pokemon > Pockymon or Pokeymon > Pop-e-star... probably. I no longer know or care), likely because the both of us were stupid kids and the far more appropriate Pokestar escaped us. At its earliest, before the series began proper, it chronicled the life of two young forum goers by the name of Kine the Genius (me) and Blade Knight inc. (Jared) and their first life experience interacting with an internet community, Kirby's Rainbow Resort. It also chronicled experiences with Psypoke (back when it was, y'know, more alive) and Starmen.net, among other things including random chat rooms and forums that are likely long dead.

In the comics, the characters Kine the Genius and Blade Knight inc were brought to life, living in a world where forums were essentially brick and mortar clubs and group meets. These comics would typically tell a funnier recollection of events that actually happened to us, told through the lens of a cartoon world. This began to bleed into our offline lives, too. And this is where things really start happening.

The most important event, and proper series kick off, is when Jared and I got a copy of Pokemon Gold and Silver respectively. Now the comics became more than just yuks about the internets, but we began to put our in game experiences into comic form too, using the same avatars Kine and BKi. The Pokemon we acquired in game would soon become the co-stars to our series. Early Poppistar comics showed a sort of rivalry between trainers Kine and BKi, with Nidorina and Bellsprout being each other's top partner, respectively. The trial series ended once I finished Silver, but as Poke Tales was to Poke Island, I saw the potential in doing some world building here with the few characters established, and stories began to show what was going on after the events of Pokemon Gold and Silver. It didn't take very long for other series to bleed in, Kirby's Adventures being the first, quickest (nearly immediate) and most prominent (as Kirby's Adventures was the second longest running and most successful series among school peers... that understood it, anyway), so much so that the entirety of the AU series takes place in a modified version of Kirby's Adventures as a foundation. This is true considering the personalities of the Kirby characters are exactly the same in AU as they were in Kirby's Adventures. Other at-the-time favorite franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man and Bomberman would make appearances and expand the world some, and when I became comfortable enough, the Mother series. Overall, Alternate Universe is like a greater Nintendo or classic gaming series, but with an extreme focus on the Kirby and Pokemon franchises.

For a period of time, the series went dormant as both Jared and I had moved on from it. It wasn't until Aqua Bunny that Alternate Universe would resurface, gaining a new audience online as something unique to have on the site while I was struggling to stay interested with Carmela: ¡Alcance Las Estrellas!

The fan reaction to AU characters, and having something live that could be talked about help me become reattached to the characters. This worked for the better, because it allowed me to flesh them out beyond what was set up in the old Poppistar years, and I could finally help them step out from under the shadow of being Poke Tales/Legends expies. In all honesty I may have flanderized the wrong attributes of characters for the sake of making them someone else a little too hard at the beginning. Nidorina was never a generic action girl, and yet *Best Friends Forever* makes her seem that way in some stories. Nidorino comes off as a little too lecherous in *We Still Love You, Nidorino*, when in fact his crushes on Nido females were mostly throwaway gags in the original comics. A lot of this gets corrected by *Surely, Charlotte*, and everything is the way it should be in *She's One of a Kind, Kine*, the current and last of the AU collections.

Beyond that, Alternate Universe has become one of the more recognized series on Aqua Bunny, and for good reason. It has the most content, and the characters are pretty interesting. Also, having some ties to other franchises gives it a bit more expansion, and it's openness to accept all universes, even the real world, as part of Alternate Universe, mean that the characters can be put just about anywhere. Also, because the of how the Pokemon characters naturally developed to become more humanlike, their experiences also become more relatable and familiar, perhaps like someone you know (even if that's you!). As for my personal feelings, the characters have all become favorites of mine by allowing them to organically grow into their own unique individual, instead of forcing a trope on them. Having also subdued things back to the way things were before the series got too wacky, and reverting personalities to be closer to the positive attributes of their initial selves, *in addition to* their added and newfound growth, it gives everyone in the cast a role, and a sense of uniqueness.