Chapter 313: Speculations on Consciousness

After the meal.

He returned to his room.

All Baimu began trying to make the Zweilous understand that it had grown two heads, and at the same time started confirming for himself whether this fellow was "two" single-headed dragons, or "one" single-headed dragon.

The reason was none other than that.

The movements of the two heads were simply too synchronized.

From lowering its head, chewing, swallowing, to crying out coquettishly, even burping happened at the exact same time — it was hard not to draw a certain association.

After all, even if the new head was split off from the old one, once they became the same individual, they wouldn't necessarily do the same things.

Unless a single consciousness, at the same moment, gave the body identical commands to its different parts.

Based on the information All Baimu had gathered from Awu so far, hardly anyone had ever agonized over this point — whether one head or two heads, a Zweilous was still a Zweilous; its essence wouldn't change.

As long as it caused no harm to itself, most residents of Dragon's Den wouldn't dig deeper into overly profound matters.

The reason he said "most" was.

Because Awu had given him the contact info of a scholar from Dragon's Den who hadn't become a Trainer but had instead gotten into Jade Rainbow University to research Pokémon ecology.

The two of them chatted at length about the issue of Zweilous.

Among them.

Prominently featured was research by Pokémon academic scholars on multi-headed symbiotic Pokémon.

Except they often held multiple views, each clinging to their own.

One scholar believed that after evolution, a Larvitar would go from one self-consciousness to two self-consciousnesses; the two merely inherited identical memories at the moment of splitting, so many forms and styles would tend to converge, but in essence they still belonged to different individuals.

He cited the Doduo case — wait, no, he cited the Dugtrio, a Pokémon that likewise went from one to many.

The second scholar rebutted using the fact that after one head of a Zweilous dies, the other head also cannot continue to survive — a property Dugtrio does not possess. If there were two consciousnesses, then why couldn't it keep living after one head died?

Furthermore, it was common knowledge that different Pokémon were worlds apart, so one shouldn't be substituted for another, and so on.

The third scholar countered the second scholar's view by suggesting that perhaps a single head couldn't bear the burden brought by the body, and that this was a medical issue.

The fourth scholar argued that after Zweilous evolved again, despite having three heads, only the middle head possessed a cerebrum, so only one consciousness existed — taking the position that the number of cerebrums was the basis determining the number of consciousnesses.

The fifth scholar rebutted using Exeggcute, pointing out that although Exeggcute was made up of six, if one wandered off, it would very naturally gestate a new sixth egg, and this sixth egg possessed all the previous memories and habits. The lost Exeggcute, meanwhile, would wither away.

Therefore, the cerebrum did not determine the number of consciousnesses.

The sixth scholar stated that when Ditto transformed into Zweilous, it still remained a single consciousness — no split personality — thereby standing up for the single-consciousness view of Zweilous.

In short, in the field of consciousness and body in multi-headed Pokémon…

No conclusion had been reached to this day.

Whether they possessed the same kind of consciousness, merely producing different personalities because multiple heads handled problems — like a split personality; or whether they belonged to different consciousnesses imprisoned within one body — both remained unsolved mysteries.

Even the people of the Pokémon world could not see through the realm of the spirit.

That Dragon's Den scholar told All Baimu.

If he wasn't interested in theories of flesh and consciousness, and simply wanted to know how to face a Zweilous with two heads, then he only needed to keep observing patiently.

The one who truly made the decision was the Zweilous itself.

If it considered the other head to have nothing to do with "itself," then even if the initial movements converged, differences would arise later — as if constructing another personality to influence the other brain.

If it realized that both brains were "itself," then there would most likely be no conflict between a new personality and the old one.

It would, like a person controlling their left and right hands, very naturally make different gestures, and no quarrels would occur.

——

A huge floor-length mirror.

The Zweilous looked at its own appearance, then looked at the phone All Baimu was holding beside it — on the screen was the original appearance the Trainer had shown it.

"Hyuu!" "Hyuu!"

No wonder it felt so weird — it had an extra head!

The Zweilous suddenly understood. It turned its head to meet the gaze of the head beside it, and felt the strange sensation of looking at itself, just like looking in a mirror.

How weird!

The Zweilous couldn't help but open its mouth to bite forward, but both mouths opened to bite at the same time and found it hard to bite down simultaneously — their teeth kept clashing. Fortunately, its necks were long enough, and in the end it struck a rather twisted pose of mutually gnawing each other's fur.

Mm, definitely its own taste!

It often idly gnawed its own fur or claws when it had nothing to do, so it knew exactly what it tasted like.

"Hyuu!" "Hyuu!"

I see!

The Zweilous lifted its right claw, then lifted its left claw, and very easily slotted the current situation into place —

Since it had two front claws, two hind claws, two small wings, two black patterns on its belly, and even two especially sharp toes.

Then what was so strange about having two heads? Look, even the little tufts on its forehead came in pairs!

It was supposed to be like this all along!

The Zweilous was enlightened, and happily ran to its Trainer's side, biting his left hand and right hand. It felt these two heads had appeared precisely so it could bite all of its Trainer's hands.

When it had first realized there were only two hands it loved to carry in its mouth, it had already felt regret.

Now, perfection!

"Hyuu…" "Hyuu…"

The Zweilous let out a satisfied cry.

All Baimu looked at this fellow that was like a tank, and had no idea which part it had thought through… or whether it had thought at all?

Forget it.

As long as he didn't treat them differently, learning to keep things perfectly balanced was surely right.

Besides, the period from Zweilous to Hydreigon probably wouldn't be especially long — Mawile's leap from level fifty to sixty hadn't taken long either.

"Alright, alright, you can let go of me."

He pulled both hands free, to keep one head from getting restless without a hand to hold, then flipped over onto the Salamence's back, placed his head between the two heads, and took out his Pokédex.

【Pokémon: Salamence】

【Type: Dark + Dragon】

【Gender: Male】

【Height: 164cm/61kg】

【Ability: Vital Spirit】

【Level: 50】

【Moves: Tackle/Dragon Rage/Bite/Headbutt】

【Dragon Breath/Double Hit/Dark Pulse/Earth Power】

【Fire Fang/Thunder Fang/Ice Fang/Scary Face】

【Dragon Pulse/Dragon Dive/Hyper Voice/Crunch】

The last two are the new moves brought by the evolution—one is a Normal-type AoE move, the other a Dark-type contact move…

Good or bad aside, there'll definitely be times they come in handy.