Okay, so, alongside Jirachi's Wish, I'll be writing this fic, too. I've had this idea a long, long time ago (literally almost a year and half), but I never really got round to writing about it. Please tell me your feedback. This fic, however, will be a Pearlshipping fic for all you Pearlshippers out there ^_^ but Dawn's introduction to the story won't come until a little later. Also, it should be noted that parts of this fic were inspired by one of my favourite films ever, Fight Club.

This is only the prologue to what should be a long-ish fic. Anyhow, on with the show!

The Downfall of Battle Club

Chapter 1

.:. Prologue .:.

The awe inspiring Pokémon World. It's a shame they don't call it that anymore, but then again, Pokémon are so rare these days, how could I still be calling it that?! I guess I could never truly grasp the fact that the Pokémon days were over…

Never would I, or even anyone for that matter, have expected that such a thing would happen, but it did: Pokémon were banned.

Why and how? I should probably explain, but first, let me tell you how the whole world around me descended into the mess it now is.

Born and bred at the peak of Pokémon, I did what every other young boy did at my age, I became a Pokémon Trainer. My name is Ash Ketchum, and just like many Pokémon Trainers around the world, my aim was to become a Pokémon Master. But what separated me from just any other Pokémon Trainer was that I was almost there…

After participating in many competitions around the world, I knew that my dream was closing in, that is was surely within reaching distance. After many years, after all the sweat, blood and tears, the many frightful endeavours that my Pokémon and I had to go through, I travelled back to my home-region, Kanto, standing at the forefront of the Indigo Plateau – the location where I hoped to become a Pokémon Master. With an ambitious smile on my Pokémon's face, I set of on the final leg of my journey. I knew for certain that within the next six months, I'd be fighting some of the most formidable Trainers in Kanto, but I stayed confident. After all, all I had to do was collect eight badges… seems simple enough, right?

I was wrong.

No, not just wrong. Nothing says 'I was wrong' more than not collecting a single badge in the last two years. Two years since I entered the Kanto region, and it was as if I was never there…

When recalling the exact moment where my life plundered, an image appears in my mind of when I entered Viridian City Pokémon Centre to find a hostile crowd of Pokémon Trainers gathering around a giant screen. On that screen was Giovanni, or should I say… newly-elected Mayor Giovanni.

Over the several months that I had been travelling, I had picked up a few things about politics: one, never become a politician; two, politicians control us Pokémon Trainers, indirectly; and three, there was once a man called Giovanni.

Here's what I knew about Giovanni:

From the rumours I've heard from eavesdropping on conversations, Giovanni was apparently once head of massive organisation, Team Rocket, as well as the Viridian City Gym Leader, but this was only temporarily. What they did at Team Rocket was always very confusing to me. I encounter their agents on a regular basis, claiming my Pikachu. They weren't very strong Pokémon Trainers, so every time we meet is just a breeze.

Another very interesting rumour that I heard was that of a mysterious Pokémon called 'Mewtwo'. This artificially made Pokémon that was supposedly created by Giovanni, or should I say, his scientists. Believed to be a clone of a legendary Pokémon called Mew, Giovanni had created what was deemed to be the ultimate Pokémon. Of course, Giovanni wasn't going to let anybody see such a monstrosity, so he kept it deep within the cellars of his headquarters, imprisoning his Mewtwo in countless cages, surrounded by innumerable armed guards. What he wanted with this Pokémon or what was he trying to achieve? Beats me. Power was the only logical response.

It wasn't long after; during an experiment with Giovanni's newly found super Pokémon where Mewtwo escaped, and that's where the disappearance of Pokémon began.

Giovanni was what you would call 'that guy who can't let it go'. Regardless of the monstrosity that many people deemed Mewtwo to be, Mewtwo was still his Pokémon. Despite how big of a handful my Pikachu can be, I'd be distraught if it went missing. I'd go mad, crazy, even. But comparing my little Pikachu to a Psychic powerhouse wasn't exactly the right thing to do. With the monster on the loose, you'd expect Giovanni to send out army after army of rescue teams to hunt down and return Mewtwo to Giovanni. Wrong.

Giovanni must've wanted power, and the only counter to power was the power of the people. What was this power? Their Pokémon. As powerful as Mewtwo was, a small army of Pokémon was it all it would've took to take it out. And then what? Giovanni would've been exposed. Team Rocket, abolished. All of his experiments, gone. The solution for Giovanni: get rid of Pokémon. With Pokémon out of the way, it would've been safe to search for Mewtwo again, and once he had Mewtwo, there would've been no defence for the people. Giovanni would then have everything.

He knew that to settle his hate, he had to get rid of all Pokémon. Only the person at the top could make the laws on Pokémon, and Giovanni wanted that position so bad. Fuelled by money and greed, Giovanni advanced his way through society's hierarchy to get to the very top. He bribed people to vote for him, he rigged elections and threatened his opponents and their supporters with death. Mob bosses kneeled down to him; powerful political figures stepped aside and allowed Giovanni to take the power from everyone. It wasn't long before he achieved step one…

Giovanni had a plan. He invited his remaining political rivals to a supposed 'dinner event', hosted by himself in the rougher side of town. It was the oldest trick in the book, and they fell for it. Before Giovanni's rivals could react, the event was swarmed with Pokémon designed with the intention of killing, courtesy of Giovanni and his experiments. The ferocious Pokémon shredded through the party guests without a single ounce of mercy, after all, that's how Giovanni designed them. Smiling along the way, Giovanni had created this 'incident' as a reason to ban tournaments, contests and every Pokémon related event would have to be closed down. He claimed they were fearsome creatures, malefic and bloodthirsty. Hidden behind that forced frown of his was a well-maintained smile that yearned for such a moment. Everything had gone to plan, and it was only the beginning…

Rolling on his momentum, his approval ratings shooting up, it was merely a week later when another policy was announced. Standing proud on national television, Giovanni announced that Pokémon were to be kept in their balls at all time, and that anyone who is seen with their Pokémon is to be arrested immediately. Little more than a few days after that, Giovanni had made his final announcement on the elimination of Pokémon.

'Pokémon are dangerous!' he said to the world below him. 'If any of you see any of these vile creatures, it is your duty as civilians to withdraw firearms or any weapons you can find and slay the beasts! Don't even hesitate to think! If you don't act now, then death is the only way forward for you.'

Nobody wanted to die, and nobody wanted another 'dinner event' swarmed by an army of Pokémon. There was only one thing the public could do, and it wasn't long before they reacted. Manipulated, tricked, and almost as if they were beginning to fear Pokémon, firearms were pulled out on every opportunity possible. Pokémon weren't strong against bullets, after all. Before long, there was a noticeable difference on the number of Pokémon. Eventually, hoards of civilians stormed the forests, drawing a firearm on everything that moved in hopes of eliminating their enemy.

I couldn't do much to stop such a force. Pokémon centres, stores, contest halls were abandoned. Some still are, some have been refurbished and turned into something else, and all thanks to Giovanni.

Naturally, there were protesters. Ex-Professors, Trainers, Co-ordinators and many other Pokémon related professions would've fought against the law, but the law won every time. Those people were either sent to prison or never heard of again. People knew not to fight against Giovanni, but instead, fight with Giovanni. His numbers were huge. Around every corner rested a spy, and within every alleyway lay a mangled Pokémon corpse. Protests and rallies were the norm, usually ending in a few fatalities from a coincidental 'wild Pokémon interrupting the protest'. I went along to some of these protests, my Pikachu following me. And, although, overtime, our numbers were diminishing, we knew what we believed in. Proud and determined, we used the rumours we heard about Giovanni to our advantage, pressurising him with every fact we had.

Two years later, Giovanni was still in power and standing strong, high above the world. The Mayor was etching closer and closer to finding his Mewtwo. With Pokémon numbers depleting fast, Giovanni secretly set up a team dedicated to finding and recovering his Mewtwo. With Mewtwo by his side once more, and the opposition eliminated, there would've been no one to stand in his way. He denied allegations that Mewtwo existed, and he continued to mask the truth to this very day, but he was getting closer. World domination was set in Giovanni's adamant eyes, but no one knew that. If I had told someone, I'd have been killed a long time ago. Besides, no one would ever believe me, and I even doubted myself on these facts overtime.

I never stood against him since. I valued my life too much. It honestly looked like Giovanni's war against Pokémon resulted in a landslide victory… and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

Do please review! Next chapter will be coming up tomorrow, after a few finishing touches to it.