Vanilla stood on the boardwalk with her back to Biscotti. She had flourished since they had last met up like this, the girl wearing a floral sundress, hat and even her bag had gotten a bit of a makeover. Her Rotom hovered besides her as they conversed amongst themselves, unaware at the family member behind them. Upon hearing the voice of somebody close, Vanilla spun around with a wide grin. The time in Hoenn had changed her, even those many years both had spent in a false reality.

Her glasses had gone missing, as blue eyes greeted the boy's gaze. Her naturally pink hair had fully been replaced by a black sheen, though some bits of magenta color peeked out from the tip of her head. No longer had she relied on her emotional support from Proxii to put together a sentence in front of people. No, Vanilla had flourished into a proper young lass who beamed at her older brother's appearance. "Scotti!" she raced to dive into a hug with her brother, her smaller arms wrapping around him and squeezing. They hadn't talked in person like this for a while now, and she had truly been feeling a bit homesick as of late. "It's so good to see you again! How've you been? Still trying for the Gym Challenge?" Proxii even would come over. The Rotom was inside of her cellphone, clad in a pink case with a Alcremie inspired design. "How ya been, Biscotti? Find any biscuits to hang out with? Kekekek~"

Her smile faded soon enough. She could see into those eyes of his and tell that something was eating away at him. Call it a hunch that one picked up when you had fourteen other siblings and knew exactly how some would react with one another. Vanilla's brows furrowed further as she took a step back. "You okay? You look like something's bothering you..."

Biscotti Kingsley

Her arms around her older brother felt genuine, a true visage of wishing him well despite the highly competitive nature that ran in the family. Vanilla wasn't much in terms of being a baker, but at least training was more of her forte, more so in part thanks to the efforts of Thomas Benoit and Navy . The both of them were amazing mentors, and she had only grown further thanks to their guidance alone. The younger Kingsley listened to Biscotti more with intent. The Incineroar by him was much like how Vanilla had thought they would be! Proxii took a quick scan as its information was entered inside of its Pokedex database.

One quick snort by his Incineroar later, Vanilla understood so suddenly. The gym challenge wasn't easy on her either, but she had made some progress. "It kind of is. I was surprised when I went up against Navy back when he was a gym leader. I don't know how Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki is, but she's just about as fierce as he is." Proxii hovered back around Vanilla's opposite side before she thought of what to say. Something that she might have needed to hear back when she was in his shoes. Her Rotonphone bobbed about like some sort of haunted bouncy ball. "It's never been better! Vanilla's grown so much in just a year. She doesn't even need me to act as a guardian anymore!" The girl puffed her chest out triumphantly, with pride shown off as if it was the blood running through her veins.

"Y'know, besides the three times you almost died."
Vanilla's display ended at the moment Proxii spoke. "I told you not to mention that!" She whined.
"I thought it might have been important to mention before you try and hide that."
"I don't hide stuff like that, and it only happened twice!"

Vanilla huffed while her companion snickered to himself. But Biscotti's previous words had been rotating in her mind a bit so that she could form an opinion. "To answer your question though…" Vanilla began, "I don't really know how I beat my two gym battles. When I walked into Navy's gym for my first badge, I was terrified. I had never done a gym battle before and I didn't know what to expect. Everything was going fine and I had my Pokémon against his, but then that twist came. I guess that's important part. Every gym challenge is supposed to test some part of being a trainer, it's not just locked to typing."

Vanilla looked over at the Incineroar for a moment, her eyes flickering around its many features. "It also depends a lot on your Pokémon. I only won Navy's because I trained with them enough to know them 100%. Even Cauli in Josh's challenge got pushed to her limits. I've never ridden her that fast, even when we were in Not Galar." She looked back at her sibling and then a devious grin. Her bag slung over her shoulder was taken off as a hand dug inside of it. "I think I can explain it better, and you can show me, in the best way a trainer can when they meet somebody else." Two Pokéballs were shown to Biscotti as she brought them together. "There's a battle ring right near the shore below. Are you going to let your little sister show you up like this?~"

Biscotti Kingsley