The Golden Lion's memory of Kaidou was still stuck before the Battle of Divine Valley. After that, he had little interaction with Kaidou, and while Kaidou was still growing, the Golden Lion had already become a renowned pirate across The Sea.
In his view, only people like Whitebeard and Roger were worthy opponents. Apprentices like Kaidou, who relied on Charlotte Linlin to grow on the ship, were not really a problem.
After lifting these islands into the sky, the Golden Lion began to immerse himself in his own development, living a self-sufficient life relying on the remaining population on the island, with a degree of isolation comparable to the previous Sky Island.
Occasionally, he would see some news in the papers, but he did not pay much attention to it. For instance, the title of Sea Emperor meant nothing to him. In his eyes, if he hadn't retired, he would be the one closest to becoming the Pirate King.
"Have you found the whereabouts of those birds?"
"Not yet. These ravens move irregularly between islands. According to those few people, these ravens seem to be responsible for transporting guests between islands."
Back then, not only had the Corviknight been captured, but also the passengers from the taxi. After obtaining the desired information from them, the Golden Lion threw them into the village on the island.
"Let it out and see if it returns to its nest. Indigo, you should have something for tracking, right?"
"It's not difficult, but will it really return to its nest after being released?"
"It's a bird's instinct to return to its nest. Even if it doesn't, isn't there a locator?"
A bus with a fixed route is easy to find; you just need to wait on the fixed route. However, a Corviknight is a taxi, not a bus.
Flying in the sky, they don't need to follow fixed routes and will choose the most suitable path depending on the situation. Kaidou's territory is vast now, and the operational range of the Corviknight taxis even includes the Four Seas and Charlotte Linlin's domain.
As long as there's money, they can take passengers to most places. In this situation, trying to find a Corviknight is like finding a needle in a haystack. They can only hope for the Corviknight they have.
Besides attacking, ferocious beasts follow biological instincts in most cases. This is just an attempt.
Indigo also has a potion to calm the frenzy, but the Corviknight's reaction is too clever. Restoring it to normal might prevent it from behaving as expected.
As the scientist under the Golden Lion, Indigo is also a top talent. Creating a basic locator isn't complicated, and soon, they released this Corviknight back into the wild.
Finding its flock would be ideal, but even if they couldn't, if the ferocious Corviknight started rampaging on an island, he could still observe the battle situation.
As the Corviknight was released, the floating Sky Island Group controlled by the Golden Lion began to fly in the direction guided by the locator. Unnoticed, a few small black dots were quietly moving high in the sky.
...
A while later, in the sea where the Corviknight went missing, on the Mammoth.
"I suddenly feel like this was a mistake...."
Gazing at the blue sea, Jack suddenly sighed. When Yamato called them out to help, they came without much thought, only to realize at the designated sea area that this was indeed a mistake.
Yamato's plan was essentially having no plan — taking it step by step was her policy of action.
"It's not been long yet, let's wait a few more days."
Maria was much more patient than Jack, but seeing Yamato's actions, she wasn't confident either because all she was doing was driving away seabirds.
"Strange, the foster father clearly said that bird Pokémon especially love Bounsweet, yet there's no reaction."
Besides bringing along Jack and Maria, she also brought many Pokémon. Bounsweet was one of them, and her purpose was to use Bounsweet to lure out the Corviknight.
Due to its nature, Bounsweet almost always appears in the diet of bird Pokémon, including Corviknight. The Pokémon created on Ghost Island have higher endurance; they won't eat Bounsweet, but they still get attracted to it.
The bathwater of Bounsweet has always been one of the favorite things among Pokémon on Ghost Island.
The scent of Bounsweet can spread far, but so far, not even the News Bird has been lured, let alone any sight of Corviknight.
"Is this really your way of looking?"
"I thought it would be lured out this way, right?"
"Under normal circumstances, yes, but it went missing. This is obviously an abnormal situation. Why would you think it would come out looking for food on its own?"
Listening to Jack and Maria's words, Yamato's movements suddenly stiffened, as if she'd forgotten something.
"You reckon... Could it possibly... just have been delayed by an accident?"
It seemed Yamato was looking for reasons to cover up her mistakes, but Jack and Maria's suspicious looks were already locked onto her, and the surrounding crew automatically chose to ignore this matter.
Jack and Maria could make jokes, but the others had no interest in such affairs.
Yet sometimes, luck strikes suddenly. In less nuanced terms, fools have their fortune.
A sudden birdsong came from the sky, and the Corviknight really appeared.
"See? What did I say?"
"...."
Jack and Maria were speechless. Even though Jack thought it was just a coincidence, when it truly happened, it could only be concluded that Yamato's plan was successful.
"Hey! Here! Where have you been all these days?!"
Yamato shouted at the skyward Corviknight, but the Corviknight's reaction was off; it didn't land smoothly but instead launched an attack on Bounsweet, seemingly trying to eat it.
Rational Corviknight wouldn't make such a mistake, but this one was now in a frenzied state, majorly driven by wild instincts, and remembering the flag was already quite good.
But its situation was complicated, seemingly battling something, influenced by the power within Yamato and others. The abilities and the flag created by Arceus were distinctly visible, and the Pokémon he created wouldn't mistake them.
But most aren't qualified for this, so they use flags to represent ordinary passengers instead.
"Something's wrong... Maria, pull it down!"
Seeing the Corviknight first attempt to snatch Bounsweet and then struggle to fly away, Yamato sensed something amiss. Maria immediately cast a web, ensnaring the Corviknight in the sky.
Seeing it still struggle, Yamato jumped onto its back, forcibly pinned it onto the deck, and discovered the locator that didn't belong to the Corviknight...