Retroperistalsis

This was a Minific I wrote back in October 2020, almost two years exactly, so it’s a bit old- but it was based off of an incredible drawing that I still stare at sometimes by FungusFangs on Twitter! I’m a bit nervous to share off of anonymous because I’m still a rookie writer (so be NICE TO MEE) but I hope it can be enjoyed regardless!

⚠️CW for vomit!⚠️

Sonia used to hate riding the trains with Leon when they were kids. He was always one of those typical children; gave little to no warning that he was feeling dicky, and, unless he was quick enough to make it out of the aisle to one of those cramped little train toilets, he would alway throw up right next to you into one of those cheap train supplied barf bags. Or- if you were really unlucky, directly into your clean, open, and waiting lap. Sonia stopped sitting across from Leon after that, even though he was awfully sorry about what he’d done. He even bought her new clothing.

He had improved tenfold as he got older. His charmeleon evolved into a Charizard, and his stomach got the practice of being flip flopped all over the place without spewing as soon as he touched ground. Not to mention, the introduction of the corviknight taxi- which was quite possibly one of the biggest suckers asking for people to vomit in them. Which Leon did. And Raihan did. And even Sonia did once- but she was alone and no one had to know about that. That was the one and only time she’d used a taxi; the height was what got to her.

Sonia assumed that, being a part of the Macro Cosmos industry, he would have gotten in the practice of steeling his sad excuse for a stomach with all of the non stop taxi rides; from Wyndon, to Hammerlocke, to Motostoke, to Circhester, then back to Wyndon. All day. Every. Single. Day.

That being said- she didn’t bother to think too much on the state of Leon’s stomach In her daily life, but she had remembered it briefly when reading up on her old biology notes. Yes, she was a Pokémon professor. No, she wasn't a nurse. But was it fun to indulge yourself in the weird and obscure functions of the body? Yeesss. Sonia thrived off of squicking out her friends with the disgusting, yet normal, functions of the body. She was quirky like that.

She didn't, however, expect to be able to use it as a means of predicting the future with Leon, though. They planned to travel from Wedgehurst to Motostoke for a bite of lunch. A simple and easy outing. Leon had offered to fly her there via his Charizard, who, thankfully, had a better sense of direction than he did, but Sonia had to decline. She was still a pansy when it came to heights. So- being the good friend he was, Leon obliged to meet her in Wedgehurst and catch the train with her so she didn’t have to go it alone when she asked.

He was perfectly fine the first half of the trip; bouncy and excited and just the same old Leon. But then the ride started to drag on, and Sonia noticed when Leon eventually started to clam up, leaning his back flat against the seat, and fiddling with the fur of his shawl. Sonia was seconds to asking if he was feeling alright- when his stomach let out a low, particularly angry sounding moan. To which he turned an absolute shade of pink at.

“Arceus- was that a hunger groan or a sick groan?” Sonia dared ask, watching as Leon pressed an embarrassed hand to his stomach.

“I-... I’m not sure,” he said, laughing breathily. There was another moan, another groan, and then an awfully full sounding gurgle- to which Leon matched with a groan of his own.

“I didn’t realize you still got sick on the trains, Lee,” Sonia said apologetically. “I wouldn’t have asked you to come with me if I’d known.”

“It’s… ugh, it’s been a while,” he said cautiously, looking apologetic. “I was planning lunch. I skipped breakfast, and I was hungry when we boarded, so I thought I’d be fine…”

Sonia was already preparing herself for the worst. It wasn’t something she wasn’t used to already, but she definitely felt for the guy. He’d involuntarily worked so hard just to be able to take a train ride without spewing, and it might not have even helped in the long run.

She was yanked out of her thoughts as Leon shifted uncomfortably, pulling his first hand from his shawl to rub gingerly at his now painfully distended looking stomach along with the second.

“I’m starting to feel really full for some reason,” he mumbled, and hearing the thickness in his voice, positive thet he was going to throw up sometime within the next few minutes- Sonia suddenly knew exactly what was going on. And, oh boy, was she excited to share with the class.

“Oh! That’s probably retroperistalsis!” She said, happy that she had once looked up the proper pronunciation for the word. Leon looked at her in morbid confusion.

“Retro- what?”

“Retro-peri-stalsis. It's when the partially digested food in your duodenum, you’re upper GI,” she added flavorfully, “forces its way back up into your stomach when you’re sick! That way, it helps neutralize the acidity in your stomach, and controls the amount of contents in your stomach before you actually throw up.”

Now- Sonia was pretty thrilled with herself for being able to quite possibly use some of her non-beneficial-to-being-a-pokemon-professor knowledge, but Leon looked quite nonplussed by the whole thing. The perturbed definition of the word, that is.

Sonia had never seen the color drain so fast from Leon’s face in all of her time knowing him.

“T-thanks, Sonia,” he said shakily. “I love learning.”

And, immediately with that, Leon lurched forward, a hand plastered over his mouth, and threw up onto the floor of the train. Leon might not have seen it coming, but Sonia did. And that still didn’t give her enough time to escape the semi-projectile vomit that covered her shoes and jeans. Leon, although looking quite more colorful as he forced himself back up into a sitting position, flushed once more at the sight of Sonia’s beautifully expensive boots.

“Sonia- I’m so sorry,” he whined, checking the aisle behind him desperately to make sure the bathroom was open to retrieve napkins. “I’ll buy you new shoes as soon as we get to Motostoke. And new pants. Oh, Arceus… and a new jacket.”

“Don’t worry about it, Lee, I have a change of clothes. You can make it up to me by buying me lunch. You’re still hungry, right?”