"...and cut! Not bad, now lets get to the interviews scheduled for this half hour, OK?"

"Yeah. Sorry to make you wait, Samantha." Ryan said, ushering her to the interview seat as TR moved offstage.

"Yeah, so sorry. Not." NightStrike joked coldly as the two headed for the food once again.

Suddenly, the door of the far side of the room opened once again. The figure that entered wore small ovular glasses over her bright, light-colored blue eyes. Her short black hair was neatly kept and she generally had the impression about her of being slightly towards the 'geek fringe'. She wore pretty casual clothing, nothing overly unique, and carried a small backpack over one shoulder.

"Sorry I'm late!" Tia Verdezia apologized as she rushed in. Spotting Samantha, she rushed over to her and, embarrassed, whispered "Please tell me I didn't miss the interview."

" . . . Tell you what." Ryan stated out loud. "Since you're both here, how about we combine it into one interview, OK?"

"Um, sure." Tia asked, putting her backpack down and opening it. "I wasn't sure what side of me you wanted to show during the interview, so I brought my lab coat and karate-gi just in case."

Ryan and Devan exchanged a brief glance.

"What you're wearing now is fine, Tia. Can we get started?"



"Villains are essential to any storyline, even one as unpredictable as Heatseeker, but so are supporting characters. With us here are two of the cooler ones, Samantha Terra and Tia Verediza. These two adventuresome teens accompany Kyle on his Pokemon journeys, acting as his backup against Team Rocket. Ladies, tell us a little about yourselves." Ryan began.

"First, I'd like to give a shout-out to all those Scyther fans out there." Samantha exclaimed with a half-embarrassed smile. "But more seriously now. Well, I'm the leader of what Tia and I call Team Heatseeker, Sienna city's finest amateur Team Rocket and Rocket clan defense group. My Pokemon are Scyther and Skarmory, two Pokemon that helped me earn my nickname 'Razor Wing'."

"I hear there's a little history behind your Skarmory. Wanna tell us about it?"

"Skarmory, actually, was caught by my great grandpa, and handed down as a family heirloom, so it's REALLY powerful even for a Skarmory. Most Skarmory can live for around 300 years, which makes mine a teenager but way better trained than any wild Skarmory, even older ones, since everyone who's ever gotten Skarmory has been a real hard-core Pokemon trainer."

"And Tia, tell us about your Pokemon training plans."

"Well," Tia stated, slightly shy. "I haven't gotten my first Pokemon yet. The way I look at it, a first Pokemon should be special, and I guess I just haven't decided yet."

"That's OK." Ryan reassured. "That just means you really respect Pokemon as the individuals they are. So, now that we know about your Pokemon, tell us about yourselves."

"Well, to start with, before joining up with Kyle, I was lead vocalist for the group Solar Truth in Sienna city. Part of the reason I joined up with Tia was because we both were orphans when we were younger and we both had previous experiences with the more aggressive Rocket clans terrorizing people. Between my rather intimidating Pokemon and Tia's technical know-how and sonic blaster, we made a real good team. Soon, there wasn't a Rocket clan-er on the islands that dared come within 100 feet of Sienna cuz' they knew Team Heatseeker would be waiting for them."

"Did you say Tia has a 'sonic blaster'?" Ryan inquired.

"Yeah, it's the result of some of her early studies in Pokemon sound-wave attacks. Show him, Tia." Samantha instructed. Tia pulled out what looked like a small super soaker from one pocket, bearing a small dish-like nozzle on the front.

"Five settings, all but one based on Pokemon attacks:" Tia stated. "Growl, Screech, Roar, Sing, and Emergency. Emergency is a one-time supersonic blast that has roughly the power of a low-grade Hyper Beam."

"Whoa! Do you need a license for that thing?" Ryan exclaimed.

"Since it's an experimental prototype, I got exclusive rights to use it and own it in the inventor's patent."

"Whoa. Tia, you're obviously a scientist, but would you like to tell us a bit more about yourself?" Ryan asked.

"Well," She paused for a moment.

"Don't be sky or modest, Tia." Samantha encouraged, then took the floor herself. "Besides being a genius and Pokemon field analyst in training, Tia holds a first degree blackbelt and is majorly into Bug pokemon."

"I also know a little Spanish." Tia added, blushing slightly.

"Well ladies, it's been a pleasure. I truly wish you the best in Heatseeker."