It had been a couple days since Fanita and Leaf "founded" Team Vindicate, and so far they showed no signs of backing down. Word of the exploration team that was willing to break the Federation rules on going into husk dungeons got around, and there was usually a pile of contracts waiting for Fanita whenever she got to Tenea Den.

Despite seeing every dungeon through to the end, they hadn't found any other antennas. Leaf was making progress dissecting the one they found, but it was slower than they would have liked. He was extremely skilled with electronics, not necessarily magic-infused radio towers that cause Pokémon in a near radius to become husks.

Still, he tried his best. He was able to figure out that they have an effective radius of around one kilometer, though the effect couldn't make it past the boundaries of a mystery dungeon. He suspected it has something to do with the way mystery dungeons tend to distort space, but he wasn't familiar enough with the "science" behind them to be confident.

It's still somewhat comforting though; as far as they know, the husk effect can only function inside mystery dungeons. Even Fanita was nervous at the prospect of an antennae being activated in the middle of Tenea City.

"We need to come up with a cool name for this though," Leaf argued as he broke into its power source. "We can't just call it an antenna..."

"Hmm... Have you found out anything else about how it works?"

"...Not really. I still can't find what it's actually broadcasting. There's no conventional data storage on this, aside from this weird pocket of water." Leaf navigated to the scan of the antenna's middle section, zooming in on the center and removing the top cover.

There were three sealed cylindrical containers with wires running into and out of them.

"From the way it's designed this should be where the information it's broadcasting is held, but it's just three pools of normal water. It could be a weird technology that this world figured out before ours did, but I don't think I can learn any more about it right now."

"We seem to be constantly running into roadblocks with stuff we don't know about how this world works."

"Yea... I'm sorry, there's so much stuff I've never seen before here that I don't really understand..."

"It can't be helped." Still, Fanita observed the model, wondering what she could do. If she really wanted to learn more about how this thing worked, she'd need help from someone who understood this world better.

She immediately scratched off anyone at the Den. They were not particularly trustworthy, and even her reputation wouldn't be enough to keep them silent if someone offered them enough Poké.

That... really only left one other contact. And while they were just as clueless about this as she was, they might know someone who isn't.

"...I think it's time we pay Team Apex another visit."

Leaf's eyes brightened. "We're finally gonna go meet the other humans?"

"We've done as much as we can on our end. If we want to know more, we'll need to hand this off to someone who's supposed to fix this, then we can get back to your actual training."

She did not mention that she could probably get something in return too, though she wasn't quite sure what she wanted.

"Right... We haven't done any real crimes yet, have we..."

"You scanned the entire antennae, right?"

Leaf nodded.

"Then we'll bring it with us and see if they can get anything out of it."

"Got it!" Leaf set to work, tying up the metal segments into a bundle so it would be easier to carry. "We're gonna be going all the way to Nova Town? Why not go to the human team in Tenea?"

"I... lost track of them." She didn't want to admit it, but it seemed like Team Terrae completely disappeared after her heist at the tower. She asked around a few of her sources at the Den, and none of them had seen the team either.

It probably meant they were out on an expedition, but the fact she hadn't picked up any word of it beforehand was concerning.

Regardless, that meant that their best chance was to head to Nova Town and meet up with Team Apex. Blizz did promise that he would do whatever he could to clear her record and get her on the team if she wanted. She still really did not care for guild work, but it probably meant she could at least have a conversation with him that wouldn't end in getting surrounded by the police.

"Oh... that's too bad... But still! What's the other team like?"

"...Interesting. I think you'll like them."

Leaf pumped a flipper in the air. "Alright!"

She and Leaf decided to wait until night before they left. The darkness would make it much less likely that they would get spotted on their way over. Plus, she could see in the dark, and Leaf promised that his glasses had some night-vision ability so he wouldn't be left behind either.

The two left for Nova Town as soon as the sun went down. At Fanita's insistence that they couldn't draw any attention, Leaf kept his voice down, making what was probably the quietest journey Fanita had since taking Leaf on as an apprentice.

Several hours of walking later, they passed over the final hill on the route, giving the two a clear view of the town and the forest directly next to it.

Leaf looked at the city, nostalgically. "Can't believe I'm finally back here..."

"Weren't you only gone for a week?"

"...Well...Yea, but this was where I first woke up..."

Fanita floated down the hill as they continued their conversation. "What happened to bring you out to Tenea?"

"I used to work for Leavanny at the lab- err, clothing store, but she fired me..."

"Oh? And why would she do that?"

"...I might have lied about my age when I started working with her..."

"Ah." Leaf's reasoning about wanting to prove himself despite his age started making a bit more sense to Fanita.

"But now we're an outlaw team, and this is so much cooler!"

"Yes, but you haven't done any actual outlaw contracts yet."

"...Right..."

The two finished their walk in silence, checking into a room at Raichu's inn. Just in case she was recognized, she had Leaf book the room on his own, then floated in from the outside.

Despite his exhaustion from the walk, Leaf still wanted to talk a bit more. "Hey Fanita... I have a question."

"Hmm?"

"Why do we need to do stealing and stuff after this? Pretending to be an exploration team is really fun..."

She was expecting to have this conversation at some point or another. "I thought you wanted to be a thief?"

"Well, I don't like all the rules... and how I'm too young to do anything... but do we really need to be that type of outlaw?"

"You mean the type that causes a massive explosion in the middle of a city at noon on a Thursday? Or the type that beats someone up just because they happened to piss off the wrong extremely wealthy Pokémon? The type that robs an exploration team made of completely innocent Pokémon?"

"Yea, all that..."

"I think you figured out why I don't like to take missions off the board. There's no honor there."

"But, can we just keep doing rescue missions? Or arresting real outlaws?"

"You know, you could always join a guild if you want that life. I'm sure Team Apex would let you join."

"But the guilds are so mean... They... Why can't we just stay together?"

Fanita stared at him. "I'm a thief."

"...Yea, I know..." Leaf looked out at the moon through the inn's window. "...It's stupid for me to ask..."

Fanita observed the Piplup as he drifted off to sleep. His questions did get her thinking.

She was starting to get a rough idea on what to ask for in exchange for the antennae.

The sun was already up by the time Fanita and Leaf woke up. The late night yesterday meant they really slept in.

Fanita floated out of the wall, while Leaf opened the door and walked out the main entrance.

However, instead of an empty hallway, Leaf was greeted by a shiny Treecko standing in front of the door.

"Hey there!"

Leaf blinked a few times, making sure the Treecko was actually there and not just an odd dream.

"Uh... Hi."

Leaf looked to the side of his vision, where his glasses were busy scanning the Pokémon in front of him.

Treecko (Zar) - Team Apex - Lucario's Guild

Level 73

Health - 100%

Leaf perked up when he noticed the readout. "Oh, you're on Team Apex!"

Zar gave the Piplup a smile. "Yea! I actually wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, that's great, we were actually looking for one of you guys too!"

"Awesome! Let's go outside."

Fanita's impatience rapidly turned into curiosity as she saw Leaf walk out of the inn alongside a shiny Treecko.

"I see you made a friend."

"Yea! This is Zar, she's on Team Apex! She was waiting outside our room, she wanted to talk to us!"

Several alarm bells rang in Fanita's head. Not that she could let it show, getting information was crucial right now.

"Oh? Are you a newer recruit?"

"Yep! Been on the team for around a week!"

That relieved Fanita's first concern that she didn't see the Treecko when they raided her hideout. "Ah, and are you like the rest of them?"

Zar cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"...From Earth." Fanita couldn't tell if this was an act or if she was just that air headed.

"Oh... Yea! I'm human!"

"Interesting. And where are the others?"

"Well... That was why I wanted to talk to you guys..." Zar's expression dropped. "You have an Apex badge, right?"

Fanita stared into Zar's eyes, trying to gauge her intent. "...Yes. It was given to me as a gift."

"Got it from Blizz, right?"

"...Yes. Do you know where I can find him?"

Zar bent over as the smile faded off her face. "That's the problem... I don't know..."

"Aren't you a member of his team?"

"I am, but we got attacked at the end of our last mission. I don't know everything that happened, but when I woke up I was being carried around by some really mean Pokémon. I couldn't see the others anywhere..."

Fanita listened intently, trying to piece together her own idea of what actually happened.

"Can you explain a bit more?"

"Well, we were at a dungeon where we thought the big bad guy would be, but instead a bunch of Pokémon snuck up on us with orbs and knocked us all out."

If Zar was to be believed, they were ambushed while going after the Pokémon they thought was organizing the husk phenomena. She didn't know if they pieced it together that Hydreigon was the most likely culprit.

"Remind me, how long were you on Team Apex again?"

"About a week!"

Fanita was absolutely convinced the ambush was her fault. She briefly wondered why Blizz would let someone so obviously untrustworthy on his team, before looking back at the guild badge she was carrying.

He was absolutely the type of person to trust this Treecko for no reason.

"Hmm... And you don't know where they are now?"

"Yea... I wasn't with the rest of them when I woke up."

While she still was suspicious of the Treecko, she was at least somewhat convinced that the airhead thing wasn't just an act— she might be able to draw some information out of her if she played her cards right.

"Tell me about what happened when you woke up. You said you escaped?"

"Yea! The Pokémon had me tied up and were dragging me through the middle of a big grass field."

While there were a few grasslands in Varin, the largest was in between Nova Town and Tenea City. Fanita filed that information away. "Go on."

"Well the rope was really weak so I just broke it and knocked out the mean Pokémon! Then I realized I should've asked them what they did with my friends, but they were already unconscious, so I went out to look for the others on my own. And when I got back to check on the Pokémon, they were gone!"

Fanita blinked a few times, making sure she heard the story correctly. Zar expected her to believe that she managed to escape being tied down and knock out the Pokémon who was carrying her.

She didn't know if the prospect of her lying or telling the truth was more worrying.

Still, Fanita was content to let her finish her story. "And so you came back to Nova Town to look for help, correct?"

Zar nodded. "Yep! I told Scizor what happened, and he said he'd look into it! And then this morning he said that there was another Team Apex badge in the city, so I went to go check it out!"

Suddenly Fanita realized she may have made a mistake taking the guild badge with her through the past few dungeons— she never heard of being able to track them.

Though Blizz is the only one who knows she has their badge, so it couldn't be a big scheme to catch her, right? If the guild knew it was her, they would've sent more than a single Treecko.

"What's the plan now, then?"

Zar looked down, sighing. "I didn't really think that far..."

"We have to go help find them!" Leaf shouted. "We can't let someone hurt other humans!"

Fanita didn't know how to break it to Leaf that they really should not be trusting Zar. Still, from the looks of it, the Treecko didn't quite catch on to her suspicion. If she was involved in Apex going missing, it might be better to keep her close by where Fanita could pick up any information she leaks.

Of course, she had to evaluate the risks as well. If Zar was working for Hydreigon or whoever else was responsible for Apex's disappearance, she and Leaf would be the next target. She'd need to keep track of Zar very closely and make sure she could get herself and Leaf out as soon as it looked like Zar was ready to spring her trap.

Alternatively, Zar could be telling the truth, but that seemed really unlikely.

She looked back to the Treecko, not wanting to commit to anything yet. "Would it be possible for me to speak to Scizor?"

"Oh yea definitely! Come on, follow me!"

"Wait. I can't go talk to him right now. I need you to send him a message for me."

Zar tilted her head, confused. "...What do you mean?"

"I just need to make sure he won't try to arrest me during our conversation. Tell him this: 'I have information regarding the husk crisis you will want to know. However I can only meet under the condition that I will not be apprehended. If this is acceptable, meet outside of Overgrowth Woods tonight at 10.'"

"Information… regarding… what?" Zar failed to pick up on any of it.

Fanita sighed, before taking out a sheet of paper and writing down her message on that. "Take that to Scizor or Lucario. Once that's done, I'll figure out what to do next."

"Okay!" Zar took the note and ran off to the guild, leaving Fanita and Leaf on their own.

Leaf looked on as the Treecko took off. "...She seemed really nice."

Fanita was starting to have doubts on taking Leaf as an apprentice.

Scizor was not having a particularly good couple days. First, the two teams that can actually go into husk dungeons, the two human teams, both vanish without a trace. Then immediately after that, the number of husk sightings in dungeons has nearly tripled. And now Zar has presented him with a note.

"So yea! She said she's another human, and wanted to talk to you."

Scizor read over the note one more time. "And who was it that gave you this?"

"It was a Misdreavus! I... didn't get her name though..."

Scizor knew that there were hundreds if not thousands of Misdreavus in the world. And it wouldn't be surprising if a lot of them tended to be outlaws, for many of them causing mischief is what it means to be a Misdreavus. So what were the odds that the one Zar talked to, the one who claims to be human, happened to be that Misdreavus...

No matter how many times he told himself that, it didn't help the headache that was forming. It also didn't help that he ran out of Persim juice trying to figure out the chaos of the past few days.

He decided he needed to make a run to Kecleon's before meeting this Misdreavus.

The moonlight shined down on Scizor as he waited. He was sitting on a fallen tree not far from the entrance to the mystery dungeon, waiting for his guest. He left a note in his office for Lucario in case he didn't make it back— while this could be an ambush, he needed to make a breakthrough on the husk problem, and he doubted the guildmaster would have the tact needed to make this discussion work.

"You came! I'm so honored."

Scizor immediately rose to his feet, identifying the source of the noise. He pivoted around, pointing an open claw directly at a Misdreavus who definitely wasn't there a second ago.

The Misdreavus didn't so much as flinch. "It's nice to meet you as well."

Scizor slowly lowered his claw. "When Treecko informed me she met with a Misdreavus, I had my suspicions that it was you."

Fanita's grin widened. "Word gets around fast."

"Why have you come out to talk to me?"

"Well, I just think the two of us can help each other. In fact, you probably don't believe me, but we both want the same things here."

"And what would that be?"

"We want to figure out what happened to Team Apex and who's behind the husk crisis."

"...What do you know?"

"Don't you think it's a little early to be talking about this? After all, it would hardly be fair for you to get such amazing intelligence while I get nothing."

Scizor paused, looking over Fanita. "I am the assistant guildmaster of Lucario's Guild. Keep this in mind when making your demands."

"Ooh, right to the point, wonderful." Fanita rotated in the air slightly. "You see, I've decided to turn a new leaf. Turns out rescuing Pokémon isn't that bad. So I was thinking, wouldn't it be wonderful if I could get a pardon? It's not like I ever killed another Pokémon, and you probably know just as well as I do that most of the Pokémon I did rob deserved it in some way or another."

A flash of recognition appeared in Scizor's face. "I don't suppose this has anything to do with rumors of a 'Team Vindicate'?"

"Oh so you've heard! Yes, as I'm sure you know most Pokémon can't venture into mystery dungeons, however my partner and I can. And just because explorers aren't allowed into a dungeon doesn't mean outlaws or helpless Pokémon don't slip in."

"You are an S-Rank criminal-"

Scizor was interrupted by Fanita's pouting. "They didn't move me up yet?"

The bug type glared at Fanita, before continuing. "You are an S-Rank criminal. I do not have the authority to grant you a pardon."

"Oh, but you have to know someone who does?"

Scizor pondered that. Theoretically, Lucario could, but he had his doubts that his partner would actually be willing to. Getting him to agree would revolve around convincing him that Fanita was willing to leave her criminal past behind entirely.

That seemed unlikely.

"...It might be possible, but it is not something I can guarantee without Lucario present."

"Aww... Guess I'll just have to go away with all of this really important information."

Scizor called her bluff. "You are a former human. I doubt you would be willing to walk away from here empty-handed."

"...Oh, I was read like a book. So how about this: I'll tell you a little bit, you tell me a little bit, and then we both go home. You go talk to Lucario and meet me back here tomorrow night. If you have that little pardon figured out then I'll tell you the rest of what I know."

"...What do you have for me?"

"Take a look at this." Fanita floated the documents she stole from Dusknoir's apartment in front of Scizor. "The bounty of my last heist. Back before I decided to stop being a thief, of course."

Scizor gripped the paper in disbelief. "...Dusknoir has been funding the entire criminal underworld of Varin?"

Fanita nodded. "Yep! But take a look here..." She floated up alongside the paper, gesturing towards the payment made from Hydreigon's Guild to her. "I'm sure Blizz told you all about that mission where I was supposed to kidnap him, guess who was paying?"

"...Hydreigon..." Scizor could barely get the words out. Had Hydreigon really fallen that far?

"Just so you know, most of the Pokémon I've robbed can be found somewhere on those documents. Might want to keep that in mind when you're thinking about pardoning me."

Scizor gave Fanita an exhausted glance. "...I will confer with the guildmaster. Like I said, I cannot promise anything, however I can inform you right now that Team Vindicate reflects very favorably on you… I would argue it is the only thing that does."

"Aww, good to know."

"Now what information did you want? I will not disclose anything classified without approval."

"Oh, I was just a bit curious about what was happening with Team Apex. You know, some good friends of mine just completely vanish? Was wondering what you knew about it."

Scizor closed his eyes, considering how much information he wanted to tell Fanita. "We don't have very much information. We know that they went to Roguepoint Mesa on a personal expedition, likely something to do with the husk crisis. According to Zar's testimony, they were ambushed, however..." He looked around, just to verify there was no one else nearby. "I suspect you place a similar level of faith in Zar as I do."

Fanita nodded. "I think so."

"I've alerted the guilds in the other settlements to look out for any information. However, if your information regarding Hydreigon is true, then it may be worth taking a more direct approach with Tenea."

"Now those are the facts, but what do you think happened?"

"...This is a conversation better held at another time. After I better understand the facts you are withholding."

"Unfortunate. Then I suppose we are done for tonight?"

Scizor didn't dignify that with an answer, as he got up and began walking down the road back to town.

"I'll be here at the same time tomorrow!" After the yell, Fanita faded into the ground, meeting back up with Leaf at their temporary hideout.

Scizor's words rang out clearly in Fanita's mind. Her best chance at getting a pardon would be to take more missions as Team Vindicate.

She could do that.

Unfortunately, because of how effective Lucario's Guild was, outlaws didn't have the same resources here that they did in Tenea City. As such, she was mostly confined to loitering around the post office, waiting to see if any rescue requests get rejected for being in a husk dungeon.

At last she got her chance, as a depressed-looking Mankey walked outside.

Fanita hid herself behind a corner as she called out to him. "It sounds like you need someone rescued."

"Huh!? Who said that?"

"A friend, so long as you keep your voice down and don't look around the corner."

He calmed down enough to follow the instructions. "...What do you want?"

"Have you heard of Team Vindicate?"

Mankey's eyes widened, not that Fanita would be able to see it. "Wait, wait, are you saying...?"

"I might be able to forward your mission to those guys. If you want, of course."

"W-W-What would it take?"

"Team Vindicate is very generous, so I think they'd be willing to do it for free. But publicity always helps, so you should make sure to tell the world how they helped you out."

Mankey nodded enthusiastically. "Yea! I can do that!"

"Wonderful. Just place that rescue request on the floor next to you, and you can be on your way. They'll have your friend back soon enough."

"Okay..." He lowered the slip of paper on the ground. "Thank you so much..."

Fanita floated the paper into her bag, and vanished into the ground. By the time Mankey's curiosity finally got the best of him and he looked around the corner, the Misdreavus was already gone.

Dewbeat Grassland was another straightforward dungeon. Unfortunately for Leaf, the majority of the feral Pokémon that weren't already husks were grass or water type, meaning the Piplup wasn't doing much damage.

But Fanita was there to cover for him, easily taking down most of their foes. Neither had particularly good crowd-control moves however, which would prove to be an issue as Leaf ran ahead into a room that had a suspiciously high amount of items scattered around.

Fanita couldn't stop him in time before the monster house triggered, trapping Leaf in the center of dozens of Surskit, Dewpiders, and Lotads.

"AAAH!" Leaf tried to fire off a panic Bubble Beam, but even when it did manage to graze a feral it didn't do much damage.

"Stay calm, prepare to use your items. You need to-" Before Fanita could finish walking Leaf through what to do, a new voice rang out through the dungeon.

"Hey this is just like that other time!"

A familiar Treecko shot out of the ground in the middle of the monster house with Dig, knocking out a Dewpider. She looked around for a moment before knocking out every Pokémon with a single Leaf Storm.

Once she was done, she looked between Leaf and Fanita, smiling. "...Did I do alright?"

"How the hell did you find us?" Fanita zoomed in towards Zar, which was probably a bad idea given how obscenely powerful the Treecko just showed herself to be.

Leaf's eyes lit up as he looked at his savior. "You must have tracked us using the guild badge, right?"

Later on, Fanita needed to inform her apprentice that putting words in the mouths of people she's interrogating is a bad idea.

"Yea! That's it! I think."

Despite Leaf's blunder, Fanita remained determined. "Why did you come looking for us?"

"I got bored." Zar took the stunned silence as an invitation to elaborate. "At the guild you're not allowed to take a mission unless you have at least one other Pokémon with you, and since everyone from Apex is missing I can't really do anything. So I thought hanging out with you guys would be cool!"

Fanita would continue to be confused by Zar. At least now she knows she might not be able to take Zar in a fight. It did make her story about breaking free from her captors a bit more believable too.

"That's awesome! Can she join Team Vindicate, Fanita?"

Fanita looked back to Zar, trying to figure out the best way to say "no" without isolating Zar or Leaf.

"Aren't you already a member of Team Apex?"

"I thought you guys were too, with the badge and everything."

It is true that that's the reason they can actually take these missions.

"Come on," Leaf pleaded. "Did you see how strong she looked? If we have her on our side, we could do anything!"

"Yea! I can help you guys out a ton!"

It didn't seem like there was an easy way for Fanita to get out of this, and no part of the last 10 minutes has given Zar any more credibility in her eyes. However, Zar was too strong for her— if she decided to knock out Leaf and herself right now she could easily overpower them. Fanita's best chance would be to play along and let Zar think that she has the upper hand; time worked to Fanita's favor, not Zar's.

"…Alright then. Zar, how would you like to join Team Vindicate?"

The Treecko jumped up in excitement. "Alright!"

A/N: Always nice to run into familiar faces, right?

Ch 23: I Fought the Law - 6/18/22