"Any symptoms so far?"

"Other than the time I nearly lost control during the pirate operation, no."

"Ah, you said your anger nearly activated it, correct?" The doctor continued to jot down notes on his notebook during my next checkup with him. Emil's troublesome ability had been lying strangely dormant so far until it nearly reared its ugly head during that operation. It was why I decided to have the doctor help me ascertain if I'm really okay and here we are, in the medical bay of the ship.

"Dolly managed to pull me out of it but I might not be that lucky next time. I think having a bit of motion sickness really does help with suppressing the ability's outburst somehow. Not too sure why," I added, still trying not to focus too much on the mild nauseous feeling that I'm almost always experiencing on the ship. It's not so bad that I could not go about my daily activities, but it certainly is very annoying to be constantly seasick on the ship even if the symptoms are really mild, and it affects my appetite as well.

"Motion sickness is largely caused by sensory conflict or confusion, where the body, the inner ear, and the eyes send conflicting signals to the brain. Signals to the brain… Hmm, this might be worth looking into," the doctor hummed in thought, pausing writing in his notebook for a short while before resuming. "We still don't know much about Ability Holders and how abilities really work or what triggers them in general, but assuming that your brain is the organ that triggers them and gives them instructions to "flare up" be it consciously or subconsciously, perhaps, "rewriting" the signals that caused this phenomenon in the first place might be what you need? Of course, everything that we just discussed are conjectures that we came up with based on the limited findings we currently have but if we really are on the right track, if we are able to figure out and identify the signals that your brain sends out to your body to activate your ability and intercept them to either block that signal or rewrite it such that it wouldn't trigger an outburst then theoretically, this might just be the cure you need."

"Is that even possible?"

"If we are talking about the current level of our medical technology, no, but remember what I told you when we first met? It might be better to try seeing this as a pokemon related problem rather than a medical problem. Your ability belongs under the category of the Mind Arts Trio so wouldn't it make sense to have pokemon under this category to assist you in learning how to control your abilities?"

I glanced at Rena who was sitting on the tabletop who was also glancing back at me sceptically. How on earth would we figure out how to intercept brain signals of all things?

"Don't look so doubtful. Actually, this might actually be how Neutralising Gas really works. Interesting, interesting."

"Neutralising Gas?"

"Remember the incense that I used on you to suppress your Insomnia ability back then?"

"You told me that it's a very specific and special type of gas produced by a small handful of koffings that's only recently discovered. I think you mentioned that the academics were still unsure if it's a new pokemon move or ability? That's Neutralising Gas?"

"Yes, that's the official term that the academics have recently named it as and from the looks of it, it will most likely be classified as a new kind of ability very soon, one that is unique to the koffing line as far as we currently know."

"Sounds like a business opportunity, wonder if Dad knew about this?" I wondered aloud because isn't it a little too overpowered to have an ability that can suppress other abilities? People will be clamouring to get koffings on their team the moment this news goes public.

"I'm sure that he must have already gotten his hands on some of these koffings, or is already in the midst of procuring them. Koffings are also native to Hoenn after all and business opportunity aside, this also concerns you. Don't underestimate the lengths a father will go for their children."

"Speaking from experience?" I decided to subtly probe since such an opportunity so conveniently presented itself. I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for my conversation with Zades that day but the wordings that the doctor used, the way he suddenly blurted out that last sentence, it's really not something that should just pop up out of the blue.

"I'd seen too many things in my line of work," the doctor shook his head with a soft sigh. "Alright, you should be fine for now. In fact, your body seemed a little healthier compared to your last check up, although I can only know for sure until we reach Hoenn and I have the proper equipment to take some accurate readings."

The doctor's blissey chirped in agreement, reminding me of its presence while handing me a plate of sliced fruits before handing another plate to the doctor which they shared together. Blissey is a very unique pokemon for its ability to bring a smile to anyone's faces due to how unbelievably compassionate it is. It is one of those pokemon whose evolution does not stem from how strong a trainer had trained it to be but rather, is dependent on how strong the bond is between the trainer and the chansey in question. Its evolution from a chansey is not a process that can be forced, it can only be nurtured through unwavering trust and love between both parties.

I still cannot believe that this unassuming blissey had such incredible mastery over Gravity.

"How did you train your blissey to be so good with Gravity?" I asked while eating a slice of mango. The doctor chewed on whatever he was eating for a few seconds and swallowed it before answering.

"Honestly, I have no idea. Blissey is just naturally good with it," the doctor patted his blissey on its head and the blissey puffed out its chest proudly at the praise. "As you would have already experienced, Unova is not a safe place for people like us and even if I tend to keep the fact that I am an Ability Holder a secret, it would be best to keep a pokemon around for my own protection. Blissey is not a battler and I don't need it to be a battler, but I do need it to be able to disable any aggressors long enough for us to make a run for it. Having it learn Gravity just seemed like the most suitable option then."

"And then blissey just… mastered Gravity to that level? What blissey showed already seemed to surpass the crux of the move and was more akin to it being able to freely alter vectors itself."

"What can I say? It's a talented pink little menace," the doctor smiled. "If you are interested in observing how blissey manipulates gravity like that I'm sure blissey wouldn't mind imparting a thing or two to your pokemon who are also capable of learning this move."

"Really?" I asked in surprise, because a generous offer like that rarely comes by in our community due to how zealously guarded trainers can be when it comes to their trade secret. Like how Jayce wouldn't easily give away the secrets of how he commanded his pokemon with a method with roots traced back to ancient ninjutsu, or how Volkner only imparted the secrets of Magnet Rise to his apprentices and his gym trainers, or even me and the various tricks that I came up with for my pokemon like our Battering Ram technique, our mastery over rock type moves in the early stage of our journey which eventually resulted in Kratos' mastery over his Sand Stream ability and now, Shadow Sneak and Phantom Force for my ghosts. These are all secrets that are the source of our strength in a competitive setting and conversely, could also spell our demise in settings like war and conflict if our secrets were made known. The doctor technically couldn't be counted as a trainer but he had to know the value behind his offer because this is the way of life in this world.

So why would he so readily offer to teach me the secrets that his blissey took to such great pains to master? He's been very nice to me. Too nice, as a matter of fact.

"Really," the doctor nodded his head and while I am thankful for his offer and see no reason to reject what was so generously given, I also cannot help but start to suspect that there was more to what the doctor had in mind for accepting my family's request to follow me back to Hoenn to help find a "cure" for the affliction that is plaguing me since I underwent Devouring. Zades' well-intentioned warning rang in my mind once more. He warned me that while the doctor doesn't seem to be harbouring harmful intentions he does have the intent to want to get closer to me and get to know me better for reasons yet unknown.

So why? Why is he so interested in me and looks as if he's trying to get into my good graces? Was it like Zades said, that we had unknowingly met before and I had helped him somehow? Or was he eyeing the influence and power that my family wield and using me as an avenue to grasp it? It made me feel like a villain to suspect the doctor in this manner especially after he had risked his life to save mine but this is no longer about me alone if my family got pulled into the picture. It would be disastrous if any villain made use of our family's power and influence to bring harm to the region.

So what reason could it be? I don't know, I know too little about the doctor to be able to make any educated guesses. I wouldn't have suspected a thing if it wasn't for Zades' warning.

I kept my suspicions carefully hidden and continued to have a pleasant conversation with the doctor before leaving the room. I had already asked Zades for a favour to help me keep an eye on the doctor but I wanted to keep my bases covered as much as possible. In the event that I am wrong in my assumption and that the doctor really has other ulterior motives to approach me in this manner, I need to be ready and prepared.

I went to look for Sebastian immediately.

"The doctor? The things I had heard about him in my own independent investigations when we were at Unova were polarised into two different spectrums, which was why I never fully trusted him despite all the help that he had given thus far. Nevertheless, I will keep a more careful watch on him, Ms Velda. I will also try to reach out to my contacts to try and dig out more of the doctor's past so that we could hopefully learn something of use about him."

I really hope that this was just me being paranoid for no reason.

Compared to the rough start we had at the beginning of our voyage, the days that passed after we departed from I-164 were very smooth sailing.

I supposed the doctor was right in saying that humans are habitual creatures. I had already experienced several sea voyages in my journey across the world and the initial part of the voyage was always the hardest to get used to. It always got better later on.

I spent most of the time awake at night at the bridge. The crew took turns doing their night watch every night and I ended up getting to know most of them and was generally able to match their faces to a name. Zades was right to say that they were very eager to please pretty girls. I offhandedly mentioned once that I was thirsty and suddenly all the guys in the room went to get me a glass of water. Several other similar incidents after that cemented my belief that Zades was indeed right and that he really knew his men inside out, which was in equal parts heartwarming, hilarious, and sweet to think about.

Days and nights passed and by this time most of the passengers on this ship were more or less acquainted with each other, or at least were able to recognise each other by our faces. The Savic family was the only outlier where nobody wanted to mingle with but I honestly could care less what happens to them.

The atmosphere on the ship reached peak excitement one fine morning. I could still remember it was somewhere between ten to eleven in the morning, the time period where most passengers love to wander around the deck because the sun would be bright but it wouldn't be too unbearably hot. An announcement was suddenly broadcasted through the speakers, which naturally caught our attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your vice-captain speaking," Zades' voice was unmistakable even through the speakers. The tone of his voice had a unique lazy joking undertone lacing it and he's a reassuring presence that we had associated with safety during our voyage. "If you look to your left, you would see that we are cruising on Hoenn's waters. If you look to your right, you would also see that we are in Hoenn's waters. We have officially entered Hoenn's waters so welcome back home, everyone. We made it."

Cheers erupted from all over the ship and the joy was certainly infectious. The cheers and celebrations continued for a while and Zades' voice could be heard all over the ship once the din died down a little.

"We would take approximately two more hours to reach dry land and we seek your understanding and patience in the meantime. We will be docking at Lilycove Naval Base, so everyone can start contacting your loved ones to arrange a pickup for you. Just make sure your loved ones don't blockade the entrance to the base or the higher-ups will have my head on the chopping board."

Laughter rang out from the deck and there was someone who even shouted "I thought you were resigning and couldn't care?!" loud enough for Zades to hear from where he was making the announcement from within the bridge. The laughter got louder.

"That's true, but I would prefer to be able to resign peacefully. That said, if anyone is looking to employ an ex-sailor to sail your private yacht in the future feel free to hit me up."

Boos were collectively jeered before that turned into laughter. It was all in good fun, of course. Everyone on this ship could see for themselves how hard Zades and his men had worked tirelessly throughout the entire trip back home to ensure our safe return. The crew had mingled and endeared themselves to us in the duration of this trip and we sincerely appreciated them for their hard work.

Those two hours were both the shortest and longest two hours. After packing my belongings I decided to just take my nap to pass the time since it happened to be around the time which I usually took one of my two hour naps anyway. When I woke up the ship was already near enough to the mainland for us to easily spot it. People were gathered on deck, some already with their luggages, each more eager than the last to finally be able to return home and have our feet touch Hoenn soil once more. Excited chatters could be heard from all over the ship as Sebastian and I gathered on the deck too.

I closed my eyes, allowed myself to feel the familiar warm humid breeze of home brushing past my skin, and took a few more steps forward the moment I finally touched down on the soil of my home. There's simply something magical about being able to walk on your country's own land after being away from home for so long and I really missed it. The tropical climate, the blistering sun and sudden downpours, the humidity, even the air felt fresher in Hoenn.

I'm home. I'm finally home.

There was a reception welcoming us when the ship docked and we were finally allowed to disembark. I'm pretty sure this ship full of VIPs that I am a part of were given preferential treatment as the mandatory immigration checkpoint procedures were all completed in the blink of an eye.

The other ships were only starting to reach the naval port when Sebastian and I were finished with the checking in process at the temporary immigration checkpoint the navy had thoughtfully set up in a nearby hall. Most of us wanted to wait until Zades and his men had disembarked from the ship as well so that we could express our gratitude, but we weren't allowed to do that since we were very nicely asked to leave by the soldiers there to avoid congestion. The other ships weren't completely done with the docking when we were ushered to leave and the soldiers there gathered everyone from my ship together before escorting us out of the naval base in several buses. The buses would drive us to the main gates where our loved ones would be waiting for us. The fact that it took more than ten minutes to reach the main gate by bus already spoke volumes about the size of the naval base that we were in.

I was a little taken aback by the veritable sea of people waiting outside the main gates of the naval base, but I guess I shouldn't be too shocked about it. We had five full ships ferrying Hoenn citizens out of wartorn Unova and all of their loved ones were all gathered here anxiously waiting for their return. There were many soldiers going about maintaining order and the well-maintained order was disrupted when the first bus that I was on drove out and we started to alight. Noise level went up and I turned my head left and right just like many others around me were doing, yearning to spot my family which I knew had to be here. We had been texting each other the moment my ship docked at Lilycove.

My phone rang and I immediately picked up. It's Vance.

"Heya sister dear! We saw a few buses that just drove out the main gate but we were a little too far and couldn't get closer thanks to the crowd. Were you on the bus?"

"We just alighted," I had to raise my voice a little because it was so loud out here. I continued walking ahead to talk over the phone while searching for my family. Sebastian and his medicham followed behind while carrying our luggage and Dr Lott tagged along. "I really couldn't see any of you though! There's too many people!"

"We couldn't see you too!" Vance had to raise his voice too or I wouldn't be able to hear him over the din. "We are at- you know what? Watch for my signal."

"Uh…" I trailed off. The walking calamity of Petalburg is planning to do something stupid again and I probably should stop him. However, that decision was taken off my hands before I could do or say anything.

A loud draconic roar silenced the crowd and a salamence shot up into the sky from somewhere far beyond the crowd which quickly spotted me from the air before doing a sharp dive in my direction and of course, that incited shocked screams from the crowd.

I facepalmed. That has to be Vance.

A loud shrill whistle was blown by a soldier trying to enforce law and order.

"Hey you! No releasing of Class Four pokemon! Recall it at once!"

"Ehehehe, my apologies, my apologies," my trouble prone brother sheepishly apologised without a shred of sincerity while recalling his salamence after they made their landing. "I'm too excited at the thought of seeing my dear little sister again, you see, she had been through so much at Unova- ow!"

"Can we just go?" I quickly interrupted Vance by pinching hard on his waist before he could say or do something to embarrass me in public again. The soldier was understanding enough and was fine with turning a blind eye to Vance's perceived transgression the moment he recalled his salamence. We managed to wade through the crowd and I finally spotted my parents, waiting anxiously with their necks stretched trying to get a better look.

I didn't hesitate to run and flew into their embrace. Mum caught me in a tight hug. I'm usually not one to indulge in open display of affections but this just felt right at that moment. I'm fourteen, I'm allowed to act like the child that I am. Sue me.

"Hey Mum, hey Dad. It's been a while," I greeted them with a cheeky smile and Mum had tears in her eyes while we both hugged each other. Dad simply patted Mum on the back in silent support and our family had a short moment to ourselves while we got our emotions sorted out. It's been so long since we were all together again and so many things had happened after I left Hoenn to join the interpol at Indigo.

I allowed Mum to fuss over me and as usual, I'm always too thin and light in her eyes. We eventually remembered that the doctor that we hired to come over to Hoenn with us to help me with my ghostly medical case was also present.

"Thank you very much for coming over and for saving Vel's life. You have no idea how much that meant to us," Dad greeted the doctor with a handshake, which the doctor did. He looked a little… how would I put it? A little out of it if I have to put things into words, like he had seen something that shocked him or something.

"I'm a doctor, Mr Vera, it is my job to save lives and from a medical standpoint, your daughter's case might be a turning point in my own research should we succeed in finding a way to allow her to live alongside her newly awakened ability like anyone else," the doctor greeted Dad in kind. "I had also been thinking about taking a break from my usual work to unwind and Hoenn sounded like a nice place to do so, your offer came at just the right time."

"In any case we still have to thank you. You must be tired from the journey, but our family will continue to wait for Norman and Flannery so we shall not keep you waiting. We have already prepared a place for you at Petalburg and I hope it will be to your liking. If there's anything else that you might need or want to change, let us know, we will get it sorted."

"You are too kind," Dr Lott replied and his eyes glanced at Mum, Vance, and I every now and then, something which I might have missed if I hadn't decided to keep an eye out for the doctor. "Well, you already have my number. If you need me for anything I'm just a call away. I will also look for you and Vel again once I have settled in."

Someone who I didn't recognise walked up and very politely invited Dr Lott to follow him. They vanished in a Teleport.

"That's Lawrence, my personal aide. Get used to seeing him around, his relationship with me will be similar to what Sebastian is to grandpa and Dad." Vance informed me with a grin. "That said, welcome home Vel."

"Can he be trusted?" I voiced the first thought that came to my mind. I'm certain Vance and Dad had to have properly screened him before deciding to employ him but I just felt the need to point it out.

"Absolutely. We can tell you the details later. Mum will be whipping up a feast later to celebrate your return, expect all of your favourite food," Vance said while we continue to wait for Norman and Flannery who we expect to take a while to appear. Flannery will be staying with us for a night before returning to Lavaridge. Norman and us had previously agreed to head back to Petalburg together so he will be hitching a ride with us as well. I'm sure Norman is as eager to see his family again just as I did for mine.

A purple paw popped out of Vance's shadow to tap at my foot. Someone wants attention.

"Hi Macky. Glad to see you again."

The purple paw waved at me excitedly before slinking back to the shadow again. I could feel Wacky exiting my shadow to enter Vance's shadow, presumably to say hello to his fellow gengar and I smiled at the sight.

I'm back.

I'm home.

AN: Apologies for the late updates. Real life is a bitch and work has bogged me down so much that I burnt out, barely having any motivation and strength to write for a very long while.

I also took a long break from FFnet. I still write occasionally from time to time, but I didn't go back to check on my stories until very recently. When I finally did I always found it weird to see haters commenting how much this story sucks but read it to the end anyway, leaving hateful comments from chapter one all the way to like the last chapter and I'm like bro, don't you have anything better to do in your life then torturing yourself by reading something you said you hated reading?

Well, your life, your choice. I'm not going to comment any further.

This chapter officially marked the end of the Unova arc for this story. Looking back I think it was a mistake trying to merge all the stories together – maybe I shouldn't have even tried combining all seven stories into one – because it's very time consuming and exhausting to do so, but I would still say that I regretted nothing. I decided to take this opportunity to focus on each individual character in their own stories by splitting them up although currently, I only had time to write for IJWTTW and nothing else. I have written many stories but this one will always be special to me even if it's the most imperfect story I have ever written. It is the first story that I first wrote after all and if possible, I do want to see to its completion.

The coming arc for this story would be a long one. I've only just finished writing the 141st chapter before deciding to update this story (god, that chapter is so hideously long) and I don't think I'm even halfway close to finishing this arc. My greatest fear for this arc is that the pacing of the story might be very disjointed in between several chapters. Some of them were written much earlier than the next because I took long intermittent breaks in between writing some of these chapters. Some of the chapters were also rewritten many times. Ideas were scrapped, rewrote, scrapped again, rewritten, until I had something that seemed barely passable. Some chapters were rewritten after I had written a chapter like five or ten chapters after it and I went back to add in or remove several details to make the overall plot more consistent, but doing that might affect the pacing and the general feel when you read it for the first time.

So if you feel that some of these chapters felt disjointed, you know the reason now.

The next arc will be a very slow arc, with more focus on Vel's daily life, how she had to make adjustments to her life after everything she's been through. She will meet new people, learn how to control her new abilities, learn more about her family and what they might have been hiding from her, take some new responsibilities, and of course in the grand scheme of things the world at large will start to change after everything that happened at Unova. Tentatively, the name I gave that new arc is the globalisation arc, because the world will be forced to get more interconnected with each other with the gradual introduction of Galar and Paldea. The world will change and only time will tell if it would be for the better or worse.

Some history and background of the Hoenn region in my story will also eventually be mentioned and would play a major role in this coming arc. There will be a point in the arc where focus will be given to Hoenn's ancient families similar to the Vera family, especially for the extinct Geist family that had been mentioned several times in the first twenty chapters of this story (does anyone actually still remember them lol). I will also try to give more depth and screen time to Velda's family as well. Hopefully this will shape the worldbuilding into something more comprehensive and enriching. I won't know how successful my attempt will be until I get around to posting that part of the arc. I will let you guys be the judge of it.

Honestly I don't know when my next update will be. I will still be writing from time to time, but I probably won't be updating as frequently as I like. Writing is less like a passion and more like a time consuming hobby for me to pass time now. I don't know what caused the change in me, maybe I've finally outgrown fanfiction after so many years, I don't know. For the period of time where I went offline I had seriously considered the option of not writing fanfiction entirely or at the very least, stopped posting updates anymore, but here I am again in a moment of impulse. I'm not too interested in the success of any of my stories anymore unlike when I first started. Don't really care how this story would measure up against other well known stories like Traveller or The New Normal and the likes or if anyone would recommend it to anyone else like I used to be. Maybe whatever I had experienced in real life had changed me and I've become a little more selfish with a heavier focus for myself than my readers, I really have no idea. Nowadays, my stories are written purely for my own consumption more than anything else. I just want to create a world of my own liking and if I feel like sharing it, I might decide to post some updates. If you like it, I'm happy. If you don't like it, it's fine too, you are entitled to your own opinions although I would appreciate it if people stopped leaving needless hateful comments. You can just quietly leave. I don't write for profit and I don't owe anyone anything by sharing my stories. My stories don't deserve such needless hate when I did nothing wrong and I'm entirely fine if my story just up and disappears one day for whatever reasons. Maybe FFnet would finally go down one day or maybe I would just take everything down if I think that I should stop writing fanfictions online anymore.

Okay I think I have rambled on long enough. Think I spoke too much. Not too sure how many readers who have been here since day one are still sticking around but if you are still here, thank you. Hope your life has been better than mine in the period of time where I disappeared off the face of FFnet.

Last but not least, I hope you enjoy the story thus far.

Character and pokemon list:

Velda Vera, Age: 14, Female, Pokemon Trainer

Pokemon on hand:

1) Rapidash (Flamel), male

2) Swampert (Bigblue), male

3) Banette (Dolly), female

4) Flygon (Snap), male

5) Absol (Kelsa), female

6) Charizard (Toothless), male

7) Cradily (Lily), female

8) Espeon (Rena), female

9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male

10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male

11) Clefairy (Joy), female

12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female

13) Pangoro (Hulk), male

14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless

15) Scizor (Archer), male

16) Lapras (Chill), female

17) Gengar (Wacky), male