Originally Posted by
Roogle ^ Please let us know what happened on the Floating Continent.
In this particular playthrough, it is necessary to go through the Floating Continent three different times with different groups. On the first pass you do not pick up Shadow, and instead leave him laying on the ground near the beginning. I opted to take out Ultima Weapon during this pass to save myself a hair of trouble later, however, I did not expect it to make Shadow mysteriously disappear from the Floating Continent, and since I saved afterward, I was forced to revert to a much earlier save.
Unlike the many other guides I have been closely reading as I play, my guide will obviously include a warning to prevent this from happening to anyone else.