Me: Okay, it's time.

Hannah: We'd better get a raise for this!

Thomas: Even though I wouldn't accept the money anyway.

Togepi: Toge!

Episode 10: AJ

I walk out onstage and say, "Howdy! I just got back from a weeklong vacation. Costa Rica. Beautiful country. To my disappointment, the volcano was inactive, but hey, I got some volcanic sand off the beach. Volcanic sand! Hard to believe I didn't get arrested, huh? Ha, ha! And sorry for the long wait. I've been busy with school and track, not to mention two other stories and one I have been considering. Anyways, we have a very special little guest here tonight. Thomas and Hannah are working their butts off on the Space-Time Continuum just to get him here. Please welcome eight-year-old AJ Seville!"

AJ, in the form of an eight-and-a-half-year-old, walks out onto the stage and gets on the big, cushy, white chair. He greets, "Hello."

"AJ, I have big news for you," I tell him excitedly.

"What is it, Ranger?"

"I'm going to write a midquel for your story."

"Really? Ha, ha! Sweet! Thanks!"

"Of course, given that I'm already in the middle of three stories, including this one, I would have to put the Ranger Show on hold for a little while," I point out. "I think it would be worth it."

"Really? You would do that for me?" AJ smiles. He seems honored and delighted.

"Yeah. The readers love you," I tell him. I gesture to the audience, and they go wild with excitement.

"Thank you," AJ thanks them modestly. "I guess this was what Mom and Dad's concerts were always like."

"AJ, some of the fans out there are probably wondering what you say about the divorce. However, you're young, and divorces are always hard on families, so if you don't want to talk about it, no one will force you. Okay?"

"Okay! Let's do this! Ask away!"

"So, I know you and your mom had a rocky start," I start off, but when I wrote the story, I made it like that on purpose, "but you two had always stood by each other since your dad left. What are your feelings on that?"

"Well, Mom was sure taking it hard. But she always thought of…well, me. She never drank her problems away or anything like that. She'd let me sleep in her bed, and she's always there for me. She always said that I was her number one priority," AJ explained. Tears are forming in his Alvin-hazel eyes. He holds up a small stuffed toy that looks a lot like him and his father. "She even gave me this."

"AWW!" the crowd coos. Fan girls (and fan boys) were screaming, "WE LOVE YOU, AJ!"

"Thanks," AJ smiles nervously. It is apparent that being in the spotlight in this way was new to him. The young chipmunk looks around at all of the screaming fans and the quiet fans. "C-could we please talk about your upcoming midquel?"

"Well, it'll take place in your story. It'll really fill in that time your parents are divorced. I'm going to try and hold back on time skips for it. Because, you know, I left six months untouched to get to your birthday. Then, there was those couple of months Brittany dated Jehven," I tell him. "I thought less about doing a prequel, too. Talking about when your mom was pregnant with you and the day you were born in a taxicab. Speaking of which, who here has seen Taxi?" The crowd remains silent. I continue, "A sitcom from the late 70's to early 80's?" More silence. "With Judd Hirsch? And Danny DeVito? Jeff Conaway? Christopher Lloyd?" Still, there is silence from the crowd. "Are you guys serious? None of you have seen Taxi?! It's absolutely hilarious!"

A Togepi with a chainsaw runs across the stage.

"What was that?" AJ asks, referring to the Togepi.

"That's Togepi, the Spike Ball Pokémon. Togepi is able to convert the kindness and joy of others into happiness. Then, it stores the happiness in its shell. It's a Normal-type Pokémon, and it evolves into Togetic, and then into Togekiss," I explain as if I'm a PokéDex.

"Okay," AJ nods slowly. "Why did it have a chainsaw?"

"Probably to make pizza," I shrug. He looks at me like I'm out of my mind, which I am. "So, AJ, a bunch of characters do things behind the scenes. What do you do?"

"Not much," he shrugs. "You know Victoria?"

"Of course. I thought her up," I tell him.

"I think she's cute," AJ admits sheepishly. "Really cute!"

"I knew that, too," I smile. "You two are cute together."

"Thank you, Ranger," AJ smiles at me.

I turn to the crowd and ask, "Only a few of you have even heard of Taxi?!"

There is murmuring. AJ asks, "Have you ever noticed that Uncle Theodore says 'hi, I'm Theodore' a lot?" I nod. He asks, "Why does he do that?"

"I have no idea," I tell him and shake my head.

"I like some of your Pokémon stories. Darkrai's Realm is a cute new one. Oshawott and Eevee kind of remind me of Uncle Simon and Aunt Jeanette," AJ informs me.

"Well, thank you," I nod. "Now that you mention it, Oshawott and Eevee are kind of like Simon and Jeanette. I guess I have an underlying preference for cute, shy love that will blossom beautifully eventually."

"I guess you do," AJ smiles at me. "So when will you get around to writing the midquel?"

"I have no idea," I tell him and shake my head.

"Well, when are you going to update one of your other stories?"

"Hopefully soon."

"Okay!" he nods at me. I smile at the young chipmunk. He tells me, "Thank you for letting me be on the show, Ranger."

"Thanks for coming, AJ. Goodness, are we out of time already?" I ask a camera guy.

"I don't know. We're getting close to it, I think," he says.

"Wow. Time flies."

"Ranger, is Aunt Ellie gonna be all crazy in the midquel?" AJ asks.

"Well, she was pregnant through the duration of your parents' divorce, so…absolutely; she will be a raving lunatic," I nod. "I wonder who I should have on next…"

"Bye," AJ waves at the cameras and the audience. I wave as well.

"See you next time…whenever that will be!" I say.