Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's no-show at a highly anticipated showdown with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on 1MDB last week has become a national joke and inspired a torrent of memes on the Internet.

However, a re-enacted showdown between Najib and Mahathir, based on a Pokemon video game that started in the 1990s and has remained popular until today, appears to have taken the cake.

The video of the political Pokemon duel went viral on WhatsApp yesterday and has since been uploaded on YouTube, garnering more than 20,000 views in less than a day.

In the video titled ‘Najib vs Mahathir (Pokemon), PWTC final bout’, Najib, who is the main character, is seen escaping PWTC but is enticed to pick up a golden ring, supposedly for his wife, Rosmah Mansor.

However, the ring appears to have been a ruse for Mahathir to engage Najib in battle.

After repeated failed attempts to run away from Mahathir, Najib is finally forced to fight the former prime minister.

The video also makes fun of Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, who is known to zealously police Twitter, and Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan, who became infamous for his promotion of the goods and services tax (GST).

GST jingle

In the Pokemon showdown, Khalid comes to Najib's aid but is easily distracted by a Twitter bird released by Mahathir.

Ahmad Maslan's GST jingle also fails to hurt Mahathir, who crushes him with a thick economic textbook.

The video ends with a cliffhanger, with Najib using a diamond ring to summon Rosmah.

Amid lightning streaks in the background, Rosmah demands to know why Mahathir is harassing Najib, startling the former premier...

Najib was supposed to speak at a function titled "Nothing to Hide: PM's dialogue with NGOs" in a public relations exercise to counter bad publicity over his handling of 1MDB, which has accumulated RM42 billion in debt.

However, he failed to turn up at the 11th hour, citing security concerns by the police.

This allowed Mahathir, who was only a guest at the function, to take the stage and deliver a scathing speech criticising Najib.

The public relations disaster was made worse when police tried to stop Mahathir from speaking, a scene captured by the media and which has since gone viral on the Internet.