Independent Teams are Dungeoneering teams not associated with any one Guild. Being part of an independent team allows for more freedom in choosing the jobs you take on and more exclusive access to rewards offered, but independent teams must work without the safety measures, training, or resources provided by working under a Guild.
For the sake of ensuring personal safety, the Custodian Guild does not allow independent teams to work freely on the Ash Continent without prior authorization from the Sentinel Branch. Independent teams who have not been given such a license to work on the Ash Continent are legally considered outlaw groups, but despite this the Sentinel Branch does not usually enforce punishments steeper than a high fine unless an unlicensed team continuously ignores orders to stand down. The formation of new independent teams on the Ash Continent is strictly forbidden, and any independent team seeking to work legally on the Ash Continent must have a verifiable work record on one or more other continents.
Members of an independent team which is legally allowed to work within the Ash Continent can be identified by the Rescue Badges given to them by the Custodian Guild: An unadorned silver Poké Ball motif cradled by an azure wave.