Rika Shima

Rika Shima is a supporting character, then later becomes a main character of the series. She first appears during the events of Season Three. Her current B-Daman is Striking Feline, who has the inability to speak normally, like other B-Damans. She is a B-Shot from the South Block, but was previously from the North Area of Crestland.

As of Chapter 25, Rika's alter ego is Ashy-Mist the Ninetails Fox Mystic, also known as the Mystic of Flames. She is the second student under Elvire the Owl Mystic and a member of Team Mystic, with her classmates Viveria and Pawline. "'Bite through your soul, Striking Feline!' - Rika, when Striking Feline's Emblem Charge is ready."

Appearance
Rika is of short height. She has fair skin and a good physique. She has long raven black hair, which reaches to her thighs, and bright blue eyes.

For casual wear, Rika tends to wear baggy and dark clothing. Her outfit consists of a gray dress with overalls, and an oversized light gray sweater underneath. She also wears black leggings underneath, and black shoes with white soles. After receiving the Enchant Rings, Rika now wears it on her right thumb.

As Ashy-Mist, her hair grows longer and becomes russet brown. Her Twilight Roots continue to grow and appear on the left of her face. She wears a short dark red kimono dress with an orange edge and an obi belt over a sarashi around her chest. She also gains black shorts with gold lining. She also gains black boots and black detached sleeves over black gloves with gold details. She also gains fox ears and a tail (the other eight tails are hidden).

Official Bio
A B-Shot that hails from the South Block. Was a previous resident of the North Area, but has moved to South City with her mother, Etsuko Shima. Her B-Daman is the Control Type Striking Feline.

She is extremely shy and can easily embarrass herself. Always questions herself in her thoughts about her looks, what people think of her, etc.

She is a big introvert and watches anything Crossfire-related. Rika is a big fan of the Grand B-Master, Kamon Day. Though, she tries to get out of her introverted self, but couldn't bring herself to be more interactive with other people.

Personality
Rika is an introvert, which means she is extremely shy and embarrasses herself, easily. She isn't good with socializing with other people, including Etsuko. Whenever she makes a mistake, whether big or small, she is always apologizing and often tearing up for making that mistake.

However, she tries to improve from her shut-in personality and attitude, but couldn't bring herself to change. She's always having thoughts about her she looks, how people look at her, how her performance is being demonstrated, and many more. Rika is always nervous and has a low self-esteem with herself. She wasn't the talkative type of person, but she was always relying on her best friends, Hanami and another person, through messages and calls.

As Ashy-Mist, her personality becomes the opposite of her personality and attitude. She becomes cold and serious. She also becomes more confident with herself, but often ignores important stuff and likes to laze around. At times, she has a big tendency of teasing her teammates, especially Viveria and calling her "Moth". She is quick to save others from difficult situations.

Background
Not much is known about her life, Rika has previously lived in the North Area of Crestland with her best friend, Hanami Kaiya. She was gifted her B-Daman, when she was young from her parents. Her father was in the military, but sadly passed away while doing his service work. After the passing of her father, Rika and her mother, Etsuko, moved to South City to start a new life.

Rika was hit hard by her father's passing and doesn't like going outside of her bedroom. She was always watching stuff on her phone and laptop, but is slowly trying to get better.

Around that point in her life, she enters the Mystic Village and learns of her grandfather's position as a Mystic before his passing. The High Mystics hold a trial for Rika, which she successfully passes and later becomes the next Ninetails Fox Mystic.

When B-Daman became more popular and well-known around the world, Rika would be sitting in her room and watching Crossfire competitions and tournament matches, especially the tournament that made Kamon Day, the Crossfire Champion and the new Grand B-Master. She has admired his skills and later becomes a big fan of the Grand B-Master and B-Shot.

Relationships

 * Etsuko Shima - Etsuko is Rika's mother. Etsuko cares deeply for Rika and tries to make her feel happy with herself. After her father's passing, Etsuko moves to South City to start a new life and tries to make Rika feel better.
 * Mr. Shima - He is Rika's father. He used to serve in the military with Hanami's father and good friend, Akihiro Kaiya. While serving in the military, he died during a mission and dealing with a crossfire in that same mission.
 * Hanami Kaiya - Hanami and Rika are both best friends, before Rika moved to South City. They were always playing together and always comforting each other, especially Hanami comforting Rika at most times. Now living in South City, Hanami is always sending her text messages of her status and checking up on her.
 * Striking Feline - Feline is Rika's B-Daman. With the lack of speaking normally, Rika tries to understand what she is saying. She always find it difficult to understand and would resort to asking other B-Shots that are similar to Feline's type, which is cat type B-Daman.

Ashy-Mist the Ninetails Fox Mystic
"'The Ninetails Fox Mystic -- Ashy-Mist!'" Ashy-Mist is Rika's alter ego. She is also known as the Mystic of Flames and a member of Team Mystic, under the teachings of Elvire the Owl Mystic.

As a Mystic, Rika is unable to use her B-Daman. She mainly performs attack spells that are connected with fire. Her "Arcane-Fire Rush" is an attack spell, but also gives a boost in speed. She also has a hidden ability called "Bloodlust", to which has passed down from her grandfather, a former Ninetails Fox Mystic. However, she has yet to activate this ability and thus needs practice to learn how to use it.

Rika wields a whip as her main weapon, but she also wields a pair of brass knuckles as secondary weapons to use for close-combat. Unlike Viveria, Rika uses the energy platforms with getting around places in the air.

Transformation
The transformation begins with Rika chanting "The Ninetails Fox Mystic!" She raises her right fist with the other hand resting on her arm. She opens her hand and fire sparks starts coming out, then lights a small fire and throws it down, creating a burst of fire to form and engulfs her figure, then forms into a glowing orb. Her hair and clothes are covered in fire. The fire blows off, transforming into her kimono dress and shorts, followed by her sleeves and gloves, then her boots. She runs her hands through her hair and blows out the fire, turning russet brown. Flashes of fire burst out, creating her fox ears and tail. Rika brings out her whip and whips through the orb, then shouts "Ashy-Mist!" and strikes her pose.

Purification Attack

 * Burning Shoot: Ashy-Mist's solo attack, that can only be used with the Mystic Energy of Flames.


 * Paradise of Enchantment: Ashy-Mist's group attack that she performs with Viveria and Pawline, where she needs the Enchant Ring around her right thumb.

Trivia

 * Rika's given name means "Village, Fragrance," while her family name Shima means "island."
 * Rika's birthday is on September 17, making her zodiac sign Virgo.
 * Rika is the only B-Shot to have a B-Daman that makes cat noises rather than talking normally, like what most B-Daman are.
 * Her favorite food are oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips.
 * Unllike Viveria and Pawline, Rika doesn't have a Familiar.
 * Rika went through a trial to become a Mystic, like Pawline.
 * There's an ongoing joke by original creator of Rika Shima and artist of the series, Eodo (FVenish) about her being a scaredy-cat and being depicted by certain cat memes.
 * These recreation of cat memes are seen on Eodo's Instagram and Twitter account.