"Uncle Queen, are you there?!"
Outside Quinn's laboratory, Yamato's knocking was heard. Although she held a high status in Wano Kuni, there were some important places like Quinn's lab that she couldn't access.
Those places stored a lot of secrets, and they were usually quite tidy.
But when they were tackling some research topics, Quinn and Asie's laboratory could become a mess. Despite the chaos, they could still find what they needed among the disordered materials. Cleaning up abruptly would just make it harder for them to find things.
Therefore, they had a high degree of autonomy in the lab.
Before long, the electronic door of the lab opened, and Queen tossed a pair of boots to Yamato.
"What are these?"
"The boot part of the battle suit you wanted. Try them on and see if they fit."
Most functions of the Germa Combat Suit were somewhat redundant for Yamato, but Queen thought the Flying Combat Boots piqued her interest, so he worked overtime to create this component first.
Unlike Judge's version, these boots incorporated elements from the Sky Island Shells, with an added Energy Propulsion Device that Queen made. The effect was similar to Judge's version, but the operation was a bit more complex.
For most people, the greatest possibility with these boots was getting themselves injured, unable to control their power. Those who could control them typically had their own ways of flying, making them quite redundant, useful only to a few.
However, the purpose of creating these was to serve as toys for Yamato, and Queen never considered their mass production viability.
"I integrated the Sky Island Wind Shells and other elements into it. If you just want to fly, storing wind power is enough, but other functions require another operational method. I'll refine it further; I think it's not perfect yet."
In other words, he hadn't finished it, and she had to wait a few more days. Yet, Yamato's interest in the battle suit had waned.
"I'm not here for that, Uncle Queen. Do you have anything to trap beetles? I want to catch the biggest beetle."
"....Miss Yamato, do you think I'm a treasure trove?"
Hearing Yamato's request, Queen was momentarily at a loss for words. Although he managed logistics, not everything should be asked of him, right?
"So, do you have it or not?"
"Yes, I'll go get it for you."
With that, Queen closed the laboratory door. He didn't have the thing ready at hand. If Yamato needed pesticide, he could retrieve hundreds in an instant, but he was aware of the beetle contest the local children were having, which required live beetles, necessitating a different approach.
He had plenty of toxins at hand, not all of which had a pungent smell; some could even attract other creatures, enhancing their effectiveness.
His banana plantation also had similar pest control agents. He was now isolating a portion of the attractant, theoretically usable for luring beetles too.
Using bait wasn't against the rules; others were employing various ways to lure beetles, but nothing worked as well as Quinn's trap. Competing against the organizer's favorite made it nearly impossible for the average person to win.
Ultimately, Yamato only claimed a spot without touching the prize money, appeasing many other contestants. When compared to a nebulous ranking, they preferred tangible gold coins.
The selected beetles were delivered to Arceus, and soon Heracross emerged from them, divided into squads, boarding the Hundred Beasts' ships for different sea areas.
Heracross could fly independently, but delivering them to various islands expanded their search area. Meanwhile, large amounts of Sky Island Cloud were cut into blocks and transported to Ghost Island.
Ordinary clouds were merely aggregations of moisture, but Sky Island Clouds were different, being special entities. Those stored in Ghost Island's rooms even blocked some passages.
"Father, why did you bring down so many clouds?"
Climbing over a large cloud mountain and observing the Sky Island Clouds piled all around, Yamato looked puzzled.
"The Thousand-Year Dragons are too busy of late. I'm adding some helpers for them."
The Thousand-Year Dragons not only lived long lives but took a long time to hatch as well. Their population hadn't changed much since ancient times, even as Hundred Beasts' Sky Island territory increased.
Initially, Ohara scholars had no access here, but now they could freely enter Wano Kuni, and some from Wano Kuni would go up to Sky Island's test fields to farm.
In recent years, another part of the Sky Island had emerged. This section served as a cultivation field for Sky Island Shells, functioning as strategic resources. Though some rare shells were hard to cultivate, common ones were already being artificially bred.
The closest Sky Island was over two kilometers above ground, impossible for regular farmers to climb. Although those working there mostly stayed, the dragons' carrying capacity alone was insufficient.
These Sky Island Clouds were to be turned into new transportation options.
"Pika?"
From a cloud near Arceus, a blue fluffball suddenly popped out, landing on Yamato's head like a hat.
"Is this... a bird?"
Plucking the object from her head, Yamato found a blue bird with cotton clouds for wings in her view.
"That's a Swablu, a very cute little creature." Swablu, fashioned from Sky Island Clouds using the Blank Plate, was the first bird-like Pokemon to appear in Wano Kuni, but they weren't capable of carrying people to and from Sky Island.
Shortly, those massive chunks of Sky Island Clouds transformed further. Their wings expanded from a few meters to over a dozen meters, morphing into Altaria-like birds, similar to Swablu but with fluffier wings and longer tails.
The evolved forms, Altaria, truly seemed like living clouds, unlike the simple-winged Swablu.
These Altaria developed into a new aerial force, their broad backs meeting the transport needs of the Hundred Beasts' Sky Island.
"Father, does the little fluffball evolve into these big birds?"
"Yes, although you can also call them 'Dragons' if you like."
Unlike Swablu, these larger Altaria weren't made with the Blank Plate but the Draco Plate, known in the Dragon Type family for being "rebels."