Leon encountered the Shuffle Demon at Watchtower Port; otherwise, the Volcanic Island was crawling with creatures, from Fire Melt Salamanders to Salamanders, from Magma Land Sharks to Efreeti—it had everything. A mere Shuffle Demon would never have reached him.
"You smell like Impermanence Cards."
No, it wasn't Leon who discovered the Shuffle Demon first. It was the Shuffle Demon that found him, jumped in front of him, and only then did he recognize that the short, gnome-like figure hindering his path was a Shuffle Demon.
That wasn't surprising. Leon had never seen a Shuffle Demon before, and naturally wouldn't pay attention to one unless it blocked his way. At that moment, he recalled something the Brass Dragon once mentioned—
Shuffle Demons are diminutive fairy-like beings resembling gnomes, obsessively infatuated with fate itself. Their very bodies are composed of cards, roaming between the Material Plane and the Fairy Wilderness, endlessly searching for Impermanence Cards.
