After dinner.
Back in the room, Kashiwagi began the delicate process of helping Zweilous understand the fact that it now had two heads.
Simultaneously, he was trying to confirm a burning question: Was this creature now "two" Deinos, or still just "one"?
The reason was simple.
The two heads moved with uncanny, synchronized precision.
From bowing their heads and chewing to swallowing and letting out spoiled cries—even their post-dinner burps happened at the exact same millisecond. It was hard not to draw conclusions.
After all, even if the new head was the result of the original splitting in two, once they became individual entities, they wouldn't necessarily act in perfect unison.
Unless, Kashiwagi theorized, a single consciousness is giving the same command to different parts of the body at the same time.
According to the information he'd gathered from Takeshi, this wasn't something people usually obsessed over.
In the Land of Dragons, whether it had one head or two, a Zweilous was a Zweilous. Its essence remained unchanged.
Most residents didn't dive into deep philosophical rabbit holes as long as the Pokémon was healthy.
However, Takeshi had provided the number of a scholar from the Land of Dragons who had skipped the trainer life to study Pokémon Ecology at Celadon University.
Kashiwagi and the scholar had discussed the Zweilous dilemma at length.
As it turned out, the academic world was a mess of conflicting theories regarding multi-headed symbiotic Pokémon.
...
Scholar A argued that evolution caused a singular ego to split into two distinct consciousnesses. Because they inherited the same memories at the moment of the split, their habits mirrored each other, but they were fundamentally different individuals. He cited Dugtrio as an example of "one becoming many."
Scholar B countered by pointing out that if one head of a Zweilous dies, the other cannot survive—a trait Dugtrio does not share. If they were truly two separate consciousnesses, why couldn't one live on?
Scholar C suggested that perhaps a single head simply couldn't handle the physical burden of the body, making it a medical issue rather than a conscious one.
Scholar D noted that when Zweilous evolves again into Hydreigon, it has three heads, but only the center one possesses a brain. Therefore, only one consciousness exists. He argued that the number of brains determines the number of egos.
Scholar E shot that down using Exeggcute. If one of the six seeds is lost, the group naturally grows a sixth replacement that inherits all previous memories and habits. The lost seed simply withers. Thus, brains do not dictate consciousness.
Scholar F brought up Ditto. When a Ditto transforms into a Zweilous, it remains a single consciousness without suffering from a split personality.
...
In short, the field of multi-headed Pokémon consciousness remained an unsolved mystery. Even in the world of Pokémon, the realm of the soul was difficult to map.
The Dragon-kin scholar told Kashiwagi:
"If you're not interested in the philosophy of body and soul, and just want to know how to raise your Zweilous, then just be patient and observe. The one who truly decides is Zweilous itself."
If the Pokémon perceives the other head as "not me," then even if their movements start off identical, they will eventually diverge, effectively constructing a second personality to inhabit the second brain.
But if it perceives both brains as "me," there likely won't be a conflict between a "new" and "old" personality. It will simply be like a human controlling their left and right hands—performing different actions naturally without ever getting into an argument with itself.
...
...
In front of a massive floor-to-ceiling mirror.
Zweilous stared at its reflection, then looked at the phone screen Kashiwagi was holding up, which showed a photo of its original Deino form.
"Zwei-lous!" "Zwei-lous!"
No wonder I felt so weird. I grew an extra head!
Zweilous had a sudden epiphany. It turned to look at the head beside it, experiencing the magical sensation of looking at itself—much like looking in a mirror.
So weird!
Zweilous instinctively opened its mouth to take a bite, but because both mouths opened at the same time to bite the same "target," their teeth clattered together.
Fortunately, their necks were long enough that they eventually managed a rather twisted posture of nibbling on each other's fur.
Yup. Tastes like me!
Zweilous was well-acquainted with its own flavor, having spent many bored afternoons chewing on its own tail or paws.
"Zwei-lous!" "Zwei-lous!"
I get it now!
Zweilous lifted its right paw, then its left. It began to rationalize the situation with simple dragon logic.
It had two front paws, two back paws, and two tiny wings.
Even the black patterns on its belly came in pairs. Its sharp toes? Two on each foot. It even had two little tufts of fur on its heads now!
It was supposed to be like this all along!
Zweilous reached enlightenment. It bounded over to its trainer and joyfully clamped onto his left and right hands simultaneously.
It decided that these two heads had appeared for the sole purpose of biting both of the trainer's hands at once!
Before, it had always felt a pang of regret that it only had one mouth for two perfectly biteable hands.
Perfection!
This was Perfection!
he he!
"Zwei-lous!" "Zwei-lous!"
Zweilous let out a muffled sound of pure contentment.
Kashiwagi looked down at the tank-like dragon. He had no idea which part of the "consciousness theory" it had processed... or if it had even bothered thinking at all.
Whatever.
As long as he treated them both equally, everything would be fine.
Besides, the transition from Zweilous to Hydreigon likely wouldn't be an eternity; Mawile's jump from level 50 to 60 hadn't taken that long, after all.
"Alright, alright, let go for a second."
He pulled his hands free—careful to do it simultaneously so neither head felt left out—and flopped onto Zweilous's back. Resting his head right between their two necks, he pulled up his Pokédex app.
...
...
Pokémon Profile: Zweilous
Type: Dark / Dragon
Gender: Male
Measurements: 164cm / 61kg
Ability: Hustle
Level: 50
Current Moveset: Tackle, Dragon Rage, Bite, Headbutt, Dragon Breath, Double Hit, Dark Pulse, Earth Power, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, Ice Fang, Scary Face, Dragon Pulse, Dragon Rush, Hyper Voice, Crunch
...
The last few were the new additions from evolution. A Normal-type area-of-effect move and a heavy-hitting Dark-type contact move...
They would definitely come in handy.