A/N Hey, I am back with another chapter of Cinders! Great to be back. This one was a difficult chapter to fix, but I managed it. Hope you enjoy this chapter! I have a few idea's for the future of this story, which I hope will allow you to enjoy it even more.

Without further ado, enjoy!

Ash slowly opened his eyes. He was laying head down on a mattress, while he was sitting in a chair. What an uncomfortable way to sleep. He managed to raise his head and look around. The clear white walls beckoned to him, and he slowly blinked back at them. What was he doing in a hospital? He looked down at the sheets, and realised where he was.

'No…' He thought.

His eyes were already watering. The fact that he was here again meant only one thing, yet he couldn't bring himself to say it. He slowly raised his gaze to her face.

He knew she was beautiful, even for her age. She still had her life ahead of her. She had so much potential, even if she was stuck at home. The tears started streaming, even at the thought. Why did she have to leave him? Why did she have to die?

Why did mum have to die!?

Ash sat up violently, sweat glistening over his entire body. He jerked off the covers and swung his feet to the floor.

For some reason, he felt that this dream was somewhat real.

Ever since his mum had died, he had been living alone in the house next to professor Oak. He had a caretaker come check on him every day, but she wasn't his mother. No one could replace the woman who bore him, who loved him with every inch of her soul, who cherished him with every second of the day.

He stood, swaying a little. He knew it was just a dream, but why did it feel so real? He walked towards the shower, stripping of his clothing as he went. Turning on the tap, he pushed his head under the cold water. Letting the water wash away his anxiety, he leant against the shower door.

'It has never felt so… deep before. Since when did I feel this much pain?'

Turning off the stream of water, he grabbed the towel hanging over the door and started drying his hair. He pulled on some leftover clothing and walked out to the kitchen, to where James was making breakfast.

'I haven't got time for this. I need to focus on my mission.'

"Good morning Ash. I'm glad your awake. How did you sleep?"

"Not bad, thanks James. What can I make for breakfast?"

"Well, I did make too much scrambled eggs, so I suppose you can have some of that. I am going to take a shower."

Ash looked as James walked away. Slowly smiling, he grabbed the plate with the egg on it, and sprinkled some salt onto the delicacy. Walking over to the table and taking a seat, he started to think.

'Is this actually the right way to go? I mean, am I prepared to be a criminal? I know James gave me a Pokémon and all, but is this the best way to do things? Heh, well, I suppose I am already too deep into things, and James seems like a nice guy. I would be better off with him than alone on the field. I think I might hang out with him for a bit longer.' He thought.

Just as he finished, James came out, his cyan hair gleaming with drops of water.

"So, you managed to get all the information you could get. What would you recommend going after?"

"John's place would be best. He told me that his Pokémon scare away all intruders."

"Yes, it would be the best place to start, wouldn't it? However, did you notice the circular device on the door of John's house?"

Ash froze. He missed something? Then again, he was only a recruit, and he hadn't done this before, so it made sense. Come to think of it, he did notice it. It seemed to be a doorbell at first glance, but when Ash went to push it, it didn't do anything.

"I saw it outside the door, but I don't know what it is." Ash said, placing his dirty dish in the sink.

"That device is a state of the art security alarm. It alerts the police officers in the city when someone is proximity to a restricted area during a given time."

Ash blinked in surprise. That he didn't expect. He whipped his head to look at James.

"How do we get past it then?"

"I already have an idea and plan for this job, but I want to hear if you have a plan."

"The only way this would have worked is if we went in at night when most of the Pokémon should be asleep. Just in case, we would use sleep powder on the nocturnal ones, or even all of them in general, so they stay asleep. We would use sleep powder on John so he doesn't wake up, but the only problem was that I don't have a Pokémon that can use sleep powder. But now because of that alarm thing it looks like that plan went flying out the window."

James laughed. He was impressed.

"You really thought this through. Keep it up and you could go far. The key point though, is you forgot how you would get the Pokémon and what you would put them in. You don't have to worry about it though, as this is why I am here; I have equipment that will capture the Pokémon. Since these Pokémon have never been caught I will be able to use a particular machine to capture the Pokémon in pokeballs made by our development department. We have modified the pokeball's from samples of master balls, and they won't grantee capture for high levelled Pokémon but they will be enough for these ones."

Ash, for the umpteenth time this morning, was surprised.

"Right that makes sense, but do you have a pokemon that can use sleep powder?"

"Yes I do, my Venomoth will be able to use sleep powder. Also I'll make sure the powder gets into the house to affect John, and we will use small gas masks just in case."

Ash failed to see how they would deal with the device, and was about to say something until James held up his hand.

"The device, right? Well, this is where being an admin of Team Rocket comes in handy. I have a way to deal with that device. I will show you."

James pulled out his C-gear, and dialled a number.

"Yeah, Jenny? That John's place. Three nights from now his alarm will go off, and then a phone will ring you. It will be me, but I am doing something there. Treat the phone call as John pulling out a false alarm. I will ring from his house too, so it will look good on the phone records. Yep. Yes, no worries, I owe you one. Later."

"Your pretty good at this, James." Ash said, laughing lightly.

"I have been doing this for a long time." James said, not so lightly.

Ash decided to ignore that statement.

"So, I might need equipment and Pokémon to complete this. Do you know where I can get this done?"

"I'm glad you asked that. For now I want you to train your Charmander. The stronger he is, the easier it will be to deal with obstacles. Maybe training him to learn a couple more moves might be a good start."

"Yep. Gotchya, anything else?"

"For the equipment and Pokémon, Team Rocket owns about 73% of the black market here in Kanto. Most of your equipment will come from us, so you don't need to worry about it. However, Pokémon are highly sought out, and are a perfect profit advantage. Pokémon you can buy straight from the black market. The variety is impressive, but also expensive."

Ash shook his head. There was no way he was getting out of this now. He was in it for good. Might as well start acting like a real criminal.

"I didn't even know about there was black market here"

"That's because we have made sure to stay quiet. Just so you know you can get just about any Pokémon but be in mind the rarer the pokemon is the more expensive it will be."

'That made sense.' Ash rationalised.

"Don't worry about money. The amount my mother left me should suffice for now, but we can always make more, right?"

"Right. Now here are some pokeballs just in case you find a pokemon you want to catch. These Pokémon register as your own when you catch them, so they will listen to you, of course under trainer rules. Now go and train for as long as you want for the next 3 days."

Surprised, Ash moved to the door to leave, when he turned back.

"Why do you want me to train, I am happy to but why for the next 3 days."

James suddenly got irritated that he wasn't listening. He clearly made out that call so Ash could hear.

"Remember that call. Yeah, I said we will be making a move on John's house in that amount of time."

Ash mentally slapped himself. Now that he mentioned it, it did come up quite obvious. What James said next though caught him off guard.

"It's also to make sure people don't see you as anything else then a brand new trainer, even though you don't have a pokedex. Speaking of being a trainer, you might need to register as one at the Poke center later today. Make that a priority, ok?"

"Yes sir! I'll see you later on today."

As Ash walked out of the room, James nodded. He managed to get a capable recruit this time.

"Come on out, Charmander!"

When Charmander came out it looked ready to fight, but once it looked around and saw that they were in a quiet clearing it was slightly confused. It turned to find a young boy holding his pokeball, and narrowed his eyes. This wasn't that odd flower obsessed freaky male. This was a normal "Trainer," if you could even call him that. The pokemon was even more surprised when Ash came up to it, crouched and patted its head.

"Hey, what's up? I guess I am your new trainer, huh."

Charmander couldn't believe it. He had been stuck in the pokeball for so long, and this new trainer seemed clueless. Yet… the hand was soft, and warm. He nuzzled the palm slightly, and was disappointed when Ash removed his hand.

"Ok! I am Ash, and I am here to train you. I have been researching, and I think it would be wise to get you stronger. Maybe we can turn the ember you have into a flamethrower, and we will keep smokescreen. Operation…mission…thingy wise, smokescreen could come in handy. Also, Bite and Iron tail seems like a good idea, but we can take it slow with Iron Tail. What do you think, buddy?" Ash said.

Charmander was speechless. Well, as speechless as a pokemon can get.

"I think farming you on Magikarp would be a good idea for now. A bit of training can go a long way!" Ash said, determined.

All the pokemon could do was nod.

Charmander battled many Magikarp, but one stood out. Ash made sure to catch her. The last Magikarp actually knew tackle, which Ash knew would be able to help her grow. The Magikarp was actually quite civil, and was training alongside Charmander, although she had to stay in the water.

On the third and final day, Ash was very happy with their progress.

Charmander, in the short time, had managed to extend his embers use time, bringing it closer to the level of a flamethrower. Bite came easily to Charmander, however it was Iron Tail that was harping on the salamander. He didn't seem to be able to get it down pat, but he knew it would come. Ash was sure it would.

Magikarp on the other hand actually made some damage out of splash. It turns out that you can use the move to dodge nearly any move. Ash was particularly surprised when he found this out. The instinctive flopping of the accursed fish moved the Pokémon out of harm's way when Charmander let off an all too powerful ember. Magikarp was easily the fish of the lake, nearly doubling the other 'karps in strength and level. Some of the Poliwags he encountered were a pain, but were overall an easy challenge.

Ash learned that James was busy with getting all of the equipment ready and delivered to Ash a compact gas mask that only went around his nose and mouth. James also made sure the transfer machine transported the pokeball's to the correct place.

With the night coming, Ash made sure to go see Joy at the center to heal his Pokémon.

With a brisk moon filtering through the obscure clouds, none of the few Pokémon in the garden that was still awake saw the sleep powder that swiftly descended on them.

"Ok, Ash, go! Have Charmander scout out the area so you can find them all. Keep your gas mask on. I am going inside to disable that alarm.

"Gotchya, later!" Ash said, his voice distorted through the mask, as he turned to the shrubbery.

Using the small infrared scanner in his measly gas mask, he made out plenty on immobile heat signiatures.

'This should be a piece of cake.' Ash thought. After gathering nearly all the pokemon in the glade, he looked around for more signatures. Spotting some red spots adjacent the pond in the backyard , he sprinted over there with Charmander by his side.

Upon reaching the area, he saw them. Two Dratini, both sleeping in the middle of the field. Ash smiled. This was sure to give him brownie points. After throwing the first of the advanced pokeballs and capturing it, he brought out his last ball. The last pokemon to capture. James had given him the perfect amount. Ash, cocky as ever, rolled the pokeball towards the sleeping pokemon. The center touched the pokemon, but nothing happened.

And then Charmander growled.

Ash, shocked as anything, sprung back as a stream of blue flames breezed past his face, singing his hair, at the pokeball, effectively destroying it. Ash scowled, looked at the culprit and then smiled.

A Dratini had slipped out of the small lake and launched a Dragons Rage at the pokeball. Charmander immediately moved to Ash's side, and the fire burning on its tail intensified.

Ash on the other hand, clapped, confusing the two pokemon.

"Cha…Charmander?"

"Dra..tini…" The blue dragon said, the melodic voice of Dratini echoing Charmander's thoughts.

"That was very clever of you Dratini! Very, very clever!"

Ash was genuinely impressed. The pokemon, using its ability Shed Skin, had subconsciously cured itself of its induced sleep, and had hidden in the lake. Using its own remaining skin as bait, it left a residue of heat for the scanner to pick up. Then, unsuspecting Ash and Charmander fell right into its trap, causing the final "Master Ball" to fail.

He had to hand it to the pokemon. It was a very well thought out plan, one that worked too. He watched as Dratini slipped back into the water.

"I am going to have to work to catch you now. But at least I will enjoy this. Charmander, wait it out, I think this will be a water battle. Go, Magikarp!" Ash yelled, throwing his pokeball into the water.

The dodgy looking fish popped out, and put its fishy game face on.

"Magikarp, tackle!" Ash yelled.

Speeding through the water at high speed, the Magikarp caught the unwary pokemon off guard, and launched it further back into the pond, dealing mild damage. Dratini responded in tune though, launching a dragons rage at the fish.

"Splash." Ash said, calm despite the situation.

Magikarp let it's natural instincts take over and unconsciously dodged the blue flames.

"Tackle again, Magikarp!" Ash commanded.

Dratini, still confused, was hit again by another high speed tackle. Launched out of the water and near Ash, it slowly rose up again. It let of another dragons rage, this time hitting the fishy Pokémon. Of course, due to the common low health of the Magikarp in general, the sure 40 damage dragon type move one shotted the fish. Ash smiled. He called his pokemon back and patted the ball.

'Slowly but surely.'

"Charmander!" Growled the salamander, keen to start fighting. Dratini turned and faced the fire lizard, and rushed towards Charmander. With uncanny speed, it wrapped itself around Charmander, and squeezed. Letting out a cry of pain, the Pokémon tried to bite the body of the slimy dragon, but to no avail.

"Use ember on the ground, Charmander." Ash said.

Listening, he burst a stream of fire from its mouth. The ground, now covered in flames, was making the Dratini feel hot and sweaty, and forced its grip on the pokemon to weaken. Charmander took this chance and used a smokescreen directly in the face of the dragon.

Coughing and spluttering, the dragon pokemon launched away from Charmander, only to see the fire type rush towards it through the smokescreen and flip in mid-air.

"Iron Tail."

The end of Charmander slammed into the forehead of the dragon type, dealing massive damage and it fainted. Ash grabbed a regular pokeball from his pack and threw it at Dratini. Charmander ran back towards Ash as Dratini disappeared into the pokeball.

*Tilt.

Ash wasn't sure what to make of events. What if he did catch this pokemon?

*Tilt.

If he did, would that make it his pokemon, or would he have to give it to James still.

*Tilt.

It was a rare pokemon, so it would be unlikely that he would get to keep it.

*Tilt.

But… maybe he didn't have to tell James.

*Click.

Ash yelled out in surprise, then realised where he was. He quickly grabbed the pokeball and looked at it. He would tell James, but keep it anyway. He now had a Dratini. If James said he couldn't keep it, he would just leave Team Rocket. He could run. He has Pokémon now.

He smiled and ran over to where James was standing, waiting for him to return.

"You finally done?" James asked.

"Yes, I caught every pokemon in the glade. I also encountered a small problem with a Dratini, and I had to catch it with my own Pokeball. What does that mean?"

"It means it's your pokemon, Ash. You caught it without our Pokeballs, so it's yours." James said, and tilted his head. "We might wanna get going."

"Right!" Said a very excited and relieved Ash.

"Ok, Ash. Time to leave here." James said. He had made sure there was no trace of suspicious activity in the hotel, and had his own stuff ready, in a red satchel bag. He also made sure he had a direct leave out of here, so that they weren't caught out. There was an officer on duty that would let him go straight out after last night's chaos. James also had reason to worry. He was not sure whether believing Jet outright was a good idea. It seemed too good to be true that all the officers in the next few towns were completely loyal, so he would have to keep an eye out.

Ash, on the other hand, was already keen to leave. He had everything packed and ready to move out. Of course, he had to carry little. The little backpack he was given was practically bottomless.

'Thank god mum knew how to pick out backpacks.' He thought.

Even before he knew he wanted to be a trainer, his mother had been gathering things for his journey. On his 2nd birthday, he received a pair of running shoes that didn't fit him at all, and were probably 12 sizes too big. His 3rd he received this backpack that could never fit him when he was little. His 4th was his hat.

Over the years he lived in the house, he had found many items that continue to help him on his journey. Old maps for faraway countries and regions. An item called a scope lens, a various amount of berries, and his favourite item of all, with the most mystery.

A bike ticket. A very old one at that. What did it say…? Rydel, it said.

Perhaps mum was crazy after all.

"We have to show you to our leader." James said, placing a hand on Ash's shoulder, which woke the boy from his train of thought.

More like froze him on the spot.

"L-lead-leader of a-a-a-a crim-minal or-or-organisat-tion…"

"Yes, stutterbug. Let's move, it won't be as bad as you think."

How would he survive?

A/N That is it folks! My longest chapter for this series yet! It was longer but I had to cut it down because of complete and utter silliness. I mean, honestly, I thought I was a better writer.

I hope this quenched your thirst for a better FanFic all you followers from Axel

If you review, I will shed your skin.

Only if you won't yell rape :P

~Vires