Away from Slateport, battling the few trainers at the beginning of Route 110 and the end of Route 103 proved harder than anticipated. Fortunately, Marquis the Surskit was nearly at level 22, so somewhere along the Trick House’s first challenge, she evolved into Masquerain. To my surprise, her evolution came with a whopping movepool upgrade: Air Cutter. This ROM hack must be using OR/AS learnsets.
Some weeks ago, after watching a couple of AOKCraig’s videos on Pokémon and falling in love with his accent, I felt a strong urge to play some of the games again. At first I thought about the remakes for Game Boy Advance. However, I’d played Kanto so much it didn’t sound as enticing. The last region I’d visited was Johto, on a ROM hack called Pokémon Crystal Clear. Then it hit me: why don’t I try to find a fan-improved version of Emerald?
Malaise-stricken midweek, I figured the deep emotional rift that had been gnawing at me for much of the last fortnight had to be stopped. Lackadaisical, all days felt like Sundays. Stale, stifling still-lifes of rotten motifs. Lest I risk ruining a hard-earned, functional routine, I sought some kind of psychological renewal in the evergreen artistry of the unconscious.
Recently some acquaintances have scrutinised my gaming habits just to be let down by the non-existence thereof. As to the whys and wherefores of my lack of ludic endeavours, it all boils down to me maturing into an absolute bore. Be it for physical, psychological or ethical reasons, playing nowadays will seldom ever please me.
If I didn’t know better, you’d have me say the way today’s feeds, playlists, watchlists and what-nots are geared for our liking has strongly undermined the rate we witness serendipity… Or however else you might call it: synchronicity, fortune, fate, confirmation bias.
