The sudden burst of blue light threw Sato into a panic. Ever since he realized the Domain crown couldn't be inherited, he had already given up on the idea of letting Zweilous evolve in the Village of Dragons.
Due to Zweilous's unique evolution method, unless Lefty and Righty truly began "devouring" each other, they could live their entire lives in their second stage without any problems.
Compared to his past life where he had pinned all his hopes of reaching Elite Four on Hydreigon, now -even without a fully evolved pseudo-legendary- Sato was still confident he could press forward.
So if there really was no other way, he wouldn't mind letting Lefty and Righty stay as they were.
But seeing his teammates growing stronger and evolving, Skorupi evolving into the reliable Drapion, and even the ever-cute Pikachu beginning to grow rapidly, even Krookodile, who had joined the team later, had already reached Mid Ace. As one of the older members of the team, how could Zweilous not have thoughts of its own?
Because of this, Lefty and Righty's obsession with evolving was even stronger than Sato's.
If Sato hadn't made it clear all along that he would find a way for them to evolve without losing their consciousness, Lefty and Righty might have already started a "fair duel" in private to see who had what it took to walk alongside Sato until the very end!
Staring at that blinding light of evolution, Sato involuntarily took two steps forward, hesitating whether or not to stop Zweilous.
"Toto, trust Lefty and Righty. Whether they succeed or not, it's their own choice!"
Gardevoir's voice rang in Sato's heart, stopping his indecision.
Putting aside whether interrupting the evolution could cause irreversible harm to Zweilous. Just ask Lefty and Righty: could they bear watching their teammates grow stronger while they remained stuck in place?
Sato had thought about this, which was exactly why he was so hesitant.
At this moment, all of Sato's attention was focused on Zweilous.
But thanks to Gardevoir's extraordinary perception, it quickly discovered that nearly half of the Dark-type Origin energy released by the Domain had been absorbed by Zweilous as it evolved!
Only the remaining half had been "shared" among Zoroark and the others.
The blue light from Zweilous's evolution lasted for more than two minutes, during which it continuously absorbed Dark-type Origin energy at full intensity.
Beneath the glow, Zweilous's body rapidly expanded. Its limbs began to shrink back slightly, and its entire form gradually lifted off the ground, floating in midair.
From its back sprouted three pairs of slender wings, part tentacle, part ribbon in appearance. Its tail also extended significantly, hanging naturally toward the floor.
But the most obvious change was its two heads, which began merging at the base, growing thicker and longer, and finally splitting evenly into three!
At last, the glow of evolution faded, and a towering, over-two-meter-tall dark dragon, clad in black, blue, and red, appeared before everyone.
"Hy!" "Drei~" "GON!"
Three different cries came from each of the three heads!
Sato's heart, which had been suspended, suddenly dropped with relief. He quickly stepped up to Hydreigon, welcoming its affectionate headbutts from all three heads.
With both hands full, Sato couldn't keep up and had to hug them one by one.
"You're Lefty!"
"Hy!"
"You're Righty!"
"Gon~"
"And you…"
"Drei…"
Sato beamed and said to the center head with a bright smile:"Let's call you… Middy!"
"Hy"drei"gon" (ΘΘ)?" ×3
"Yeah… Lefty, Righty, and Middy, definitely names that only triplets would have!"
Sato nodded in deep satisfaction, completely oblivious to Hydreigon's three utterly baffled faces.
Gardevoir blinked in confusion too, wondering if Toto had a fundamental misunderstanding of what triplets were.
Lefty on the left, Righty on the right, so shouldn't the one in the middle be called Middley?
What the heck was Middy supposed to mean?!
Just as Gardevoir thought Middy might object… it instead affectionately rubbed against Sato again, clearly having accepted the name in record time.
Well… since even Middy itself accepted it, no one else really had any reason to argue.
'Lefty, Righty, Middy... Lefty, Middy, Righty.. actually, say it a few times and it rolls off the tongue pretty nicely, doesn't it?'
Once the naming drama was over, Sato took another good look at Hydreigon.
At first glance, it looked no different from a normal Hydreigon. But with closer inspection, something stood out.
Lefty, Righty, and Middy's necks and heads were all the same thickness and size. Unlike other Hydreigon, where the side heads were more like arms -thin and long- this one had perfect symmetry.
But regardless of appearance, the thing that delighted Sato most was that Lefty and Righty's consciousness had fully survived. And even a brand-new Middy had emerged!
As for its strength…
High Ace!
Sato's hand, which was gently patting Hydreigon, suddenly paused. He couldn't help but examine its level more carefully.
No doubt about it.
Solidly High Ace!
Sato suddenly turned to look at the shattered Domain still releasing waves of Dark-type Origin energy, and a new theory formed in his heart.
"Quick, let's keep absorbing this energy. Absorb as much as you can, we've got all the time in the world to get familiar later!"
Sato quickly had Hydreigon rejoin the group and also stopped the others who were about to congratulate it.
Everyone sat in a circle again. Even though Sato knew how precious this leaking energy was, he had taken some time to calm down first before joining in to absorb it.
After its evolution, Hydreigon's Ability had changed to Levitate. Its three heads kept scanning its teammates, yet it never once went back to absorbing the Dark-type Origin energy.
Though it had three minds in one body, Lefty, Righty, and the newly born Middy were in perfect sync.
They all felt that they had already absorbed a tremendous amount of energy during the evolution.They'd gotten the greatest benefit already, so the rest should go to the others.
So, without a word, Hydreigon silently floated backward and took up guard duty for its teammates.
Righty turned to glance at Wilma, who was still lying by the wall. Then Lefty and Middy looked over too.
…Then the entire Hydreigon turned its whole body toward her.
Lefty, Righty, and Middy all had blank expressions again, though they seemed oddly amused.
Now, who besides Hydreigon had absorbed the most origin energy in this place?
Not Zoroark.
Not even Sato.
It was actually Wilma, who hadn't stopped absorbing energy even while Hydreigon was evolving.
Lefty, Righty, and Middy exchanged glances, silently debating whether or not they should stop Wilma, that way, the others could have more of the energy instead.
After some nodding and head-shaking among themselves, they ultimately chose to let Wilma be. Nobody knew what exactly they had just discussed.
The underground palace grew quiet again. The shattered Domain continued to release its remaining energy.
Even though Sato and the others were doing their best to absorb the energy, quite a bit still ended up dissipating.
That dissipated energy passed through the cracks in the rock and seeped into the ground, making the already fertile land of the Village of Dragons even richer and more abundant.
In a way… this could be considered the Domain's only act of giving back to the Village of Dragons.