what i really hc abt volo a lot is that the traveling merchant shtick never really disappeared lmao, bro probaly avoids sinnoh like hell (unless he's feeling nostalgic) simply bc cynthia is such a huge person and frosding her is too risky and so is being recognised and asked if he's related to her
like it still happens but it happens way less when ur elusive and always up and about and nobody can really pinpoint what ur up to today
maybe today he'll see the ruins, tomorrow he'll go to a museum, the day after tomorrow he decides its time to go to his store and just clean up everything. also probably excels in forgeries and definitely has some real pieces and left forgeries behind bc he wanted the originals with him to dissect them further (in case he missed anything)
probably sees his immortality/longevity as some weird sogn that YES his goal WILL HAPPEN, he just has to be patient (poor guy). definitely deluded himself into believing with just a bit more dedication and even more wrath he can get arceus to acknowledge him