Rika

Rika
Species	Human
Affiliation	Pokémon League (Paldea)
Hair color	Green
Eye color	Red
Debut	Pokémon Scarlet/Violet

Rika is the first member of Paldea's Elite Four who appears as an opponent in the ninth generation games of the Pokémon series, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. She specializes in Ground-type Pokémon.

Background

Rika was a skilled trainer who acted as part of Paldea's Elite Four. She was recruited by the Pokémon League's Chairman and Top Champion, Geeta, who Rika says 'strong-armed' all of the Elite Four members into joining. In addition to acting as the first trainer in the Elite Four, Rika conducted the intervew that preceded the Elite Test as part of the Champion Assessment, in which she asked a challenger a series of questions about their journey and their choices while looking for honest and consistent answers. Rika generally presented herself with a casual and cool-headed mannr, although she objected to Hassel describing her as tending to be 'farcical'. Rika could be more serious when it came to conducting the Champion Assessment's interview. She dressed in a semi-formal manner, wearing a dress shirt, trousers and suspenders with a type of necktie. She was confident in both her abilities and her appearance, while also acknowledging that she wasn't the strongest member of the Elite Four.

In Scarlet/Violet, Rika's first appearance during the Victory Road storyline would happen after the Florian/Juliana had earned three badges. Upon entering a fourth gym, Hassel would greet them in the lobby and introduce them to Rika. She was impressed by what she heared about the young trainer's progress and introduced herself in a casual manner while asking them not to be intimidated by how pretty she was. After Hassel called farcical, she claimed that she wasn't trying to be funny. Rika warned Florian/Juliana that the gyms would get harder, but she also assured the trainer that she had faith in them. Rika reappeared in the aftermath of the player's seventh gym victory, at which point she introduced them to another Elite Four member in the form of Poppy.

Once Florian/Juliana came to take on the Champion Assessment, Rika conducted their interview and battled them afterwards as the first part of the Elite Test. After being defeated, she commended the trainer's skills and called for the next member, Poppy, who asked to avenge her. Rika then stood on the sidelines during the remaining battles of the Elite Test. After Poppy's defeat, Poppy apologized to Rika, who proceeded to correct her wording. After Larry's defeat, Rika had to shout to call for Hassel in Larry's place due to Larry being too quite. Florian/Juliana proceeded to defeat Hassel and compete the Elite Test. Hassel was too overcome with emotion to speak for a while, so Rika spoke up in his place to congratulate them and to tell them about the final opponent of the Champion Assessment, the Top Champion they had to face. She also healed Florian/Juliana's Pokémon for that battle. After Florian/Juliana defeated Geeta, Rika appeared with the other Elite Four members to congratulate the trainer, and she also noted when Hassel burst into tears again. Afterwards, they all joined the spectators witnessing Florian/Juliana's ultimate battle against Nemona.

Pokémon Roster

• Whiscash
• Camerupt
• Donphan
• Dugtrio
• Clodsire: She Terastallizes this Pokémon into a Ground Tera Type.

Trivia

• Her Japanese name is Chili (coinciding with the English name of a Gym Leader) in reference to both "chili" and a Japanese word for "ground". Her English name is derived from "paprika".
• She speaks in the Kansai dialect and refers to herself in the third person in the Japanese version.
• She wears glasses when conducting the interview.
• If the player passes the interview on the first try, Rika will remark that no one has done that since Nemona.
• It is possible to fail her interview, but it can be retaken any number of times.