On Playing Video Games

November 3, 2026

Bismi Llāhir Raḥmānir Raḥīm Meaning: ‘In the name of Allāh, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful’. Allāh is the name of God Almighty.

Who doesn’t like a nice round of games after a stressful day (or, perhaps, a few stressful hours) to relieve their mind of the drudgery of everyday existence? Games are a wonderful gift for the burdened soul and even greater gift for socialisation (making friends, or retaining them and the like). However, I must note here that an excess of anything (esp. games) is bad for one’s spiritual, physical and mental well-being. Anyways, while I do find joy in playing card games (think of, say, Uno) or board games (say, Chess) and the like with others - for most of my life, I’ve been playing video games (usually by myself, sometimes with others). While FIFA, by EA Sports, was the quintessential game for bonding with fellow gamers back in the day (thinking of 2010-2015), it has mostly been replaced by other online multiplayer games nowadays (mostly fast-paced FPSFirst-Person Shooter games, like Fortnite and Valorant, and world-building games, like Minecraft and Roblox). Nothing quite as convenient as being together virtually while being separated physically – all from the comfort of your home. To be fair, FIFA is still relevant as a game to bond over during in-person meetups.

Anyways, I started playing Pokémon Emerald again recently, after a very very long time, on an emulatorAs usual. In the interest of time since I can speed up the gameplay. Also, I must note that unlike my previous runs using VBA on Windows, I used VBA-M on Ubuntu Linux 25.10 this time.. And I got a nice achievement inside the game which I want to share with you. I’ll be a bit elaborate. One thing that this game has to offer are in-game Contests – for Pokémon, of course, and in different categories (5, to be exact: Coolness, Beauty, Cuteness, Smartness and Toughness). I had already overcome the brunt work (beating the Gyms and the League) and had some “free time” thereafter. Also, I had a SwellowSwellow is a flying type Pokémon seen in the early days of the cartoon series and a really good catch in this game. in my team that I had caught early on in the game and fondly nicknamed ‘Pakhi’It means ‘Bird’ in Bangla. Silly, I know…. Furthermore, this ‘Pakhi’ had a bunch of ‘Cool’ moves. So, I decided to participate in the Coolness contest with it – and, for this purpose, I fed it a number of PokéBlocksThink of it as a quality-enhancement treats (ahem ahem) made from Berries available in the game. to raise its appeal to the spectating crowd. Then I had it participate in the contest. I then got it through the different ranks of the coolness contest gradually – going up from Normal to Super to Hyper and, finally, to Master. And just after getting the Master Rank for Swellow, an in-game event got triggered, and I got this nifty portrait of my ‘Pakhi’ from an in-game artist. Hahaha… How cool is that? (Nerdy, I know.)

I hope this screenshot and the story has allowed you to appreciate my ‘Pakhi’ in all its glory (hahaha…). I should note that Swellow has usually ended up being my coolest Pokémon (or, at least, the one I usually get to the Hyper Rank of the in-game Coolness Contest the fastest). Not that any of this matters ultimately but just think of this as baring a part of my life to you, the reader of this humble blog.

As always, thank you for your time and patience, dear reader. Your supplications are sought for this humble slave. Bāraka Llāhu Fīk. May peace be with you. ʾÃmīn.

Disclaimer: All credits for the artwork of Swellow (shared above) belong to its artist and rightful owner. I claim fair use of it because the purpose is simply informative and not for any commercial gain whatsoever.

Note: This article was originally written on 23 December 2025. It was edited afterwards.

Note on the game: Pokémon Emerald is a Generation III Pokémon game released for Nintendo’s Gameboy Advance back in 2005. In this game, you are a Pokémon trainer. There are (8) Gyms and a League that you have to challenge and overcome to become the ‘best’ trainer in the game. You catch a number of these Pokémon, designed after various animals and insects, in Pokéballs (designed to be their safe space). Afterwards, you level up these caught Pokémon through battles with wild ones and trained captured ones belonging to other trainers. Then you challenge the Gyms, collect badges as proof of your wins, and – ultimately – challege the League. Of course, ideally, you would also want to catch ‘em all (referring to Pokémons, of course; the slogan of the cartoon series being: Gotta catch ‘em all) to complete the Pokédex, a handheld digital device that catalogues all the Pokémon you’ve encountered and/or caught. To be frank, it’d be easier to understand the game by watching some gameplay rather than by reading this.