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Chapter 3 Change In, Change Out

"Well, now that he got THAT out of his system," Rotom started, rising back up to mid-room height. "Could we move on?"
I rose too, seeing my lizard arch up a bit into a more two-legged position, hands raised, looking down at himself and the diaper sagging between his legs. He growled a little, though whether that was for everyone in the room or at himself for wetting his padding was up for debate.

To my side, I noticed Norman taking a peek up from the table and, noticing the fire show was over, hopped to his feet, straightening up his tie and jabbering in his language a few choice words I think kids like me shouldn't hear. My Salandit ignored him, though I think Norman was purposely addressing the room as a whole rather than the one who's wrath he had been shivering under a table from a few seconds ago.

On the other side, the three preppers were cautious moving away from the table. The Pansage quickly took cover in the hall, peeking out from the corner, probably a little more wary given that he wasn't exactly the Type comfortable with flames. The Drowzee had decided to sit his padded rump back in his original seat....before deciding to topple and take a nap on the one beside it. The Archen looked between them with slight desperation, as if they were fellow soldiers who had abandoned him, pointing wing tips at them. But he soon gave up, instead going under the table again and...seeming to be opening something.

"So...what's next?" I decided to ask to break the silence.

"Oh, I think it's better that you do it," Rotom told me. "Think you unnerved the prep squad a bit, and I have no hands, but you seem better qualified anyway."

"For...?" I asked, but then saw the Archen coming around the table as a clear answer. In his wings was a familiar box shape with a flat oval on top with a little slit on top with a wipe flailing along with the bird's movements. I also noticed a zip-lock plastic bag pinned by the box as well.

"Oh, right."

I crouched down as the Archen offered me the container and bag, and then giving a weird, but respectful low bow with wings spread out the side. Have to say it was quite an over-the-top display for just handing me something so mundane, but I did get a little laugh at watching the bird unknowingly sticking his padded tailfeathers in the air. Instead of patting him on the head, which was quite low to the floor, I did it on the back of his diaper, which made him flinch a bit, arching back up into standing position. Guess he didn't expect that heh, but he did smile at me as I rose up. Yep, a lot of Pokemon loved a diaper-pat.

I placed the items on the table, getting my Salandit's attention. "Ok buddy, come on over, lets get you out of that soggy thing huh?" I asked, smiling, trying to make him feel better. He narrowed his eyes at me as his arms fell to his side, giving me a look of disapproval. I grimaced a little, knowing he was still prideful of the situation.

I looked to Rotom. "It's just this and the Ditto-thing right? Nothing else he...might not like right?" I asked.

Rotom's drone drift-hovered for a moment in the direction his eyes were. "...I don't think so. Nope."

"Ok," I said, ignoring the skepticism growing in me, turning back to him. "Come on buddy, lets get that diaper off ok?"

He folded his arms, looking at me with narrowed slits, his face saying something akin to 'I'm not doing what you want'. That was quite a common thing he did, and it usually had to take some kind of workaround to get him to do something he didn't want to. I didn't want to FORCE him if I could avoid it, like the first bath experience...

I looked around the room at the floating Rotom, mumbling Watchog, sleeping Drowzee, hiding Pansage, and fidgeting Archen. Hmm...he'd already wet himself in front of these Pokemon...doubt he'd like them knowing other things. Like how I would catch him in rare moments of enjoying his new padded life.

"Well ok," I told him, loud enough for the rest of the Pokemon to hear, shrugging. "If you want to stay in a soaked diaper instead of going through with this, that's fine..."

His folded arms relaxed and he looked at me skeptically.

"Didn't think you LIKED a wet diaper rather than a fresh one."

His claws flinched and his eyes widened. I didn't have to look to see Norman, Archen, and the Pansage give the lizard a mix of speculative looks that made them question, in varying degrees, whether that statement was true. He glanced around the room to confirm that the others had heard my claim, and then almost immediately march-waddled over to me.

"Sa Sa land!" he hissed, off to the side, as if what he stated looped around the room like a boomerang to everyone. With a narrowed look at everyone besides me, he promptly sat his drooping rump on the table, cringing noticeably at the feeling. I decided to cover him a bit on it by covering him in a half-hug, tugging off the tail tape of his padding and helping him lower onto his back.

He continued to mumble as I untaped his diaper, going slowly so as to not let it move too much against him to cause another emotion-betraying look. Off to the side, I noticed Archen had took to peeking over the rim of the table to watch the process. I slowly positioned my bag to block most of the others from watching the procedure before pulling my lizard's diaper down, taking his legs, and slipping it out from under him before slowly guiding his tail outward.

With the wipes in hand, I gently cleaned him up as thoroughly as I thought was necessary. Given the absorbancy of Poke-Poofs, though, there wasn't too much to worry about when it came to a wet diaper. In short order, I dropped the used wipes in the open diaper before placing it in the provided plastic bag.

After a moment, having finished, I saw my Salandit was still on his back mumbling, legs still spread. Oh right...wow, heh, he'd gotten used to getting changed, it seemed like he was developing some instincts to it. He was waiting for a fresh diaper heh heh.

"We're done for now buddy," I said, patting one of his shins. He closed his mouth, looked at me, then down at himself. It was as if he was registering that he wasn't wearing a new diaper. It took a few seconds, but with my help he was back on his feet. Weirdly, he wobbled a bit, growling t little at the unbalance. Wow, had he gotten use enough to a diaper that it felt weird without one?

"Alright then!" Rotom announced, zipping about the room. "Thank you for your hard work Prep crew! Sorry for the little fire scare there, good thing we didn't trigger the fire alarm!" he continued, that last bit seemed to be directed at Norman, who did a little V-thing with his hand from his eyes to Rotom. Apparently the plasma Pokemon was being reminded he was still being judged on a tight leash.

"On to our Morphic Model Team!"

---

After giving a thanks and a goodbye to Drowzee, Archen, and Pansage, Rotom started leading me, my Salandit, and Norman down the corner hallway. Rotom told me to just put my lizard's soaked padding in my pack, saying he could just change him back into it afterward. I don't know if that was a jab at the statement I had made or if he was actually serious...

At first, it was a little slow, as apparently my Salandit really WAS unbalanced without a diaper and was having a hard time walking on two legs. I was going to offer him to ride in the bag again, despite the concern of having an unpadded rump in it, but he dismissed me off with a growl and just started walking on all fours beside me. I decided best not to push him, matching his pace even if the other two got ahead of us. His scowl seemed to lessen when he understood what I was doing...but he didn't let it drop entirely. After wetting publicly without warning...yeah, that's fair...

Eventually, after my lizard nearly snapped at Norman for coming too close to his tail, we entered a weirdly cylinder-like room that reminded me of an airplane hanger. There were several glass cubes, with what looked to be glove attachments, on a long table with a bunch of buttons and switches. Inserted in from the top looked to be some kind of tube that went near the ceiling, all of them joining with a larger one that disappeared into the walls. In the middle was a larger glass box with three screens monitoring various things.

"Ok, lets get started shall we!" Rotom announced as we entered, swiftly zipping over to the nearest glass cube. He hovered near the controls for a moment...then a little longer...then turned, somehow shamefully slow, toward us. "Umm...right, no hands. Hey! Kiddo, can you help me out here?"

"Umm...I gu---"

Before I could finish, I heard a huff behind me, and then Norman passed me by, holding up a paw as if to signal me to stop any effort at helping. My Salandit watched him with disdain, and me with something a little less than that, as he marched his way past. I know my Salandit can be a handful with his pride, but at least he didn't act high and snooty about it. I had half a mind to tug the waistband of Norman's diaper so it would snap back and teach Mr. Authority a little humility...

I managed to hold back the idea, glancing sideways to see my Salandit getting on two feet now that he was just standing beside me, checking his hands quickly before letting them go slack. That was a little something I kind of tried to teach him whenever he got on all fours, to make she he'd wash his claws before eating or something, just in case. But...it seemed apparent that the rooms we had been in were quite well sterile.

We both watched as Norman came over to the cube, and started tapping at the controls. It honestly didn't seem like he had done anything, once he finished, simply placing his hands behind his back and glancing up at the tube going in at the top. Nearly half a minute went by without anything happening, me and the Salandit glancing at each other at nearly the same time in confusion at to what was going one.

"...hm...must be two of them arguing again," Rotom commented, bouncing in the air.

"Ogggg..." Norman sighed, exasperatingly placing a paw to his head.

I was about to inquire further till I heard a plop noise from the corner of the room. We all looked to see a pink blob starting to slide through the clear tube, coming to a stop at one of the connecting ones, and then shuffling down like some kind of goopy spider before plopping down into the cube.

"Ditto!" the Pokemon announced happily, spreading gooey arms out in a 'ta-da!' fashion.

"Yes, you won, good for you!" Rotom told the blob, turning over to me as Norman started tapping at the controls again. "While Normy does that, lets get your little guy into the de-com!" he added, getting a sharp look from Norman at the nickname.

Rotom was already hovering over to the larger cube before I could ask what he meant, but I was a little preoccupied with steadying my Salandit from trying to jump at the drone for the 'little' comment. Eventually subdued, we followed.

As we approached, half my attention was on my Salandit, and the other watched as we passed Norman. It was weird watching a Pokemon like him operating machinery. I mean, I think some of them had an aptitude for it, like Rotom for instance, but it was stuff like this you don't see too much outside Berryton. I mean, out there, Pokemon were mostly put in fights after all, or in some sort of burden capacity...

I saw Norman seemingly cause a portion of the floor in the Ditto's cube to depress and separate, allowing something to rise up from the opening. It looked like two small metal poles with some kind of...web between them. As we went by, I saw the light in the room refract on miniature looking pentagons in the web, reminding me of the shiny portions in the innards of a computer. Was that that mesh thing the tour mentioned?

As the Ditto started to move into the web, I shifted to looking at what we were going to be doing, watching Dro-tom tapping against some kind of button. It took him about six tries, my lizard chuckling at the small dents he was making in the drone, but a portion of the bigger container opened up. With a clearer view inside, I noticed it had a weird floor that reminded me of my tub, with what seemed to be a drain in the middle.

"Alrighty! Let'em step inside," Rotom informed me.

I looked down at the Salandit, who was looking at Rotom suspiciously. I had to share the feeling in this regard. "What's this?" I asked, folding my arms.

"This is where we get our mesh on!" Rotom announced happily, shifting side to side as if he had just made a joke. My Salandit didn't get it and, not much for party sayings, neither did I. Eventually he stopped, making a hesitant face on the screen. "I mean that...literally too, heh. See? Over there?"

Attention directed over where Norman was again, we saw that the Ditto was covered in the pentagon-covered web, with the Watchog using the built-in glove attachments to assist with putting it on. Have to give some credit to Norman for being delicate with the hardware, but eventually the Ditto was soon fully surrounded by the near-translucent-mesh, which moved along with it, adhering to the blobby shape.

"That is one of Poke-Poofs key innovations, the Form Mesh!" Rotom told us. "With it, we will be gathering precise data in rapid time to create the perfect replica for the client Pokemon. By this, we mean your liza---Salandit there!"

"Ok...that's...kind of neat," I replied, though that was my feelings about first hearing about the thing. It didn't look like much, but I can imagine those small pieces on it were probably something expensive. That's technology for you, the smaller, the more Poke'.

"Ok, in ya go!"

I looked to my Salandit, who seemed indifferent to the opinions of technology as he ignored Rotom's voice.

"Come on then, you're not scared ar---"

"DIT."

I was thankful there wasn't a wall nearby, as the drone would have been smashed to pieces when my lizard shoved it away and marched into the cube. Or rather, for the first four unbalanced steps before going on fours. I was a little concerned when the opening closed silently behind him, turning to Rotom's drone in mid-spin for direction on what would happy next.

"Sa."

My Salandit stood in the middle of the cube, arms folded, his eyes closed, a smirk on his face. When Rotom got settled again, he casually shifted near to the controls again.

"Could you...press this button right here?"

I blinked, realizing that was directed at me. I was a little concerned with the weird tone of Rotom's voice, so much so that I failed to notice the white rain-drop symbol on the blue button I had pushed. I partially regretted what happened next. I say partially, because, he kind of needed it.

It all happened quite quickly. From the top of the cube, a spray of what looked like smoke covered it's insides, including my smug Salandit. His black form was nearly lost in the cloudy stuff, but before he could react to it, several more ceiling sprays opened up, peppering everything with what seemed to be water in a mini-rainstorm. Eventually the cloud cover dissipated with the water, revealing my slumping, wet (in a different way) lizard, who was staring in our direction in a deadpan way. Clearly, he was not happy. He looked on the verge of igniting his tail before holes in the floor seemed to spew some kind of heat into the room, evaporating and drying whatever water was in the cube that didn't get sucked down the drain.

In less than a minute, as I realized Rotom had been explaining, my lizard had been cleaned, washed, and dried. I stared into the cube, seeing him with his hands clenched and head lifted upwards, probably from whatever heat-air had been coming from the floor. When he lowered his head, there was clear annoyance on his face...and then he ignited his tail.

But...then suddenly the process happened a SECOND time, when I realized Rotom had bumped the button again. This time, with accompanied smoke from his extinguished tail, my lizard ended up on all fours from the quick up-and-down of the cleaning process, spitting out some water from his mouth and trying to break the glass cube with how loud he growled.

"Please no fire hazards in the decontamination cube," Rotom announced, with the barest hit of cheekiness. My Salandit responded to that without a flare up, but he did spit another wad of water in Rotom's direction. It barely caused a sound as it hit against the glass.

"What...was THAT about?" I decided to ask in defense of my Pokemon, looking disapprovingly at Rotom.

"Oh, that, right," Rotom replied, back to his seemingly quirky self. "Part of the procedure. The hardware's not OVERLY fragile, but I would get in serious trouble if some dirt or something got into a circuit or something..."

"Ok, I just have to ask this now," I started, making sure to get Rotom's full attention by holding one of the drone's rotors by the covered portion. "This mesh thing is NOT going to hurt him or there's a chance it'll electrocute him or...?"

"Oh no! Of course not! It just sends signals to the computers in the observation room," Rotom told me, about to gesture till he remembered I had his means of conveyance. "One hundred percent, nothing's going to hurt your Pokemon!"

"And no more of this unexpected stuff?" I asked, pointing a thumb at the cube my Salandit was drying off in.

"You mean...a bath?"

I deadpanned. Behind me, I heard Norman laughing. With my free hand I attempted to point sternly back at the Watchog for the gibe. But I wasn't looking away from Rotom, so I had no idea where my finger pointed...

"Ok, ok, sorry."

I let the drone go, noticing my Salandit having watched our exchange with an odd look on his face. He started getting up as Rotom returned to the controls.

"I think Normy's done with the Ditto, so just push this button right here---" Rotom started, hovering a rotor near a button with, I looked, a white-Ditto outline. "---I swear, it just opens that connecting tube over there so our Ditto pal can get in."

I eyed Rotom for a moment, stared at my Salandit through the glass for a moment to assure if he was ready for anything just in case. He eyed me skeptically, as if anything on the control panel was meant to do things he didn't like. He crouched slightly, claws stretched, as if he was ready to charge the wall if something displeased him.

With understandable hesitation...I pressed the button...