Palumpolum

Palumpolum is a port city in Cocoon and Hope Estheim's hometown in Final Fantasy XIII. The city holds a lively market place, said to be uncommon in a world where most people use online shopping, and is thus called "the Capital of Commerce". It is visited in Chapter 7.

Datalog
''Hope's hometown, Palumpolum is one of the biggest cities on Cocoon. Retail stores line the streets—a rarity in a society where online purchases are the norm.''

With the goal of promoting their 'hands-on' approach to commerce as a tourist attraction, the local government actively encourages businesses to set up shop in Palumpolum.

Final Fantasy XIII
Lightning and Hope need to go through Palumpolum to reach Eden, but they are being pursued by PSICOM troops that has taken the city over from the local Guardian Corps, much to the Corps' dismay. Hope is familiar with the area as Palumpolum is his home town, and leads Lightning through a series of underground pipes to sneak through the harbor and avoid the patrolling soldiers. They navigate the area filled with floating platforms and find the fal'Cie Carbuncle.

After seeing the fal'Cie and hearing Hope compare the humans in Cocoon to pets of the fal'Cie, Lightning has a revelation resulting in her abandoning her plan to destroy the fal'Cie Eden, and tells Hope to not follow through with Operation Nora. Hope does not listen, and chooses to focus his energy into his objective ahead - to get revenge on Snow.

They soon find themselves cornered in the Agora by PSICOM and Yaag Rosch who prepares to publicly execute the two l'Cie. Snow shows up along with Fang, who is now helping him. Snow summons the Shiva Sisters, who cover the area in crystal, allowing the l'Cie to make a hasty escape. Lightning forces Snow to leave with Hope and she goes with Fang. The teams contact each other by radio and agree to meet at Hope's house in Felix Heights, the residence of his father, Bartholomew Estheim.

Fang reveals to Lightning that she and Vanille hail from Gran Pulse. They were crystallized on Pulse a long time ago and the found themselves in Cocoon upon waking up. Meanwhile, Hope waits for his chance to get revenge on Snow and, after a close call with a crowd of angry civilians they tried to save from being purged, they find themselves up on the rooftops of the Rivera Towers.

Fang tells Lightning how she and Vanille were separated at Euride Gorge and were the ones responsible for Dajh Katzroy becoming a l'Cie. She admits she and Vanille were responsible for Serah becoming a l'Cie as well. Fang points out how the brands change to show how long a person has left before they become a Cie'th and says she cannot remember the previous Focus. Fang tells Serah will eventually come out of her crystal stasis.

On the rooftops, Hope and Snow destroy a powerful PSICOM enemy and Hope confronts Snow about his mother's death. Intending to kill him, Hope blasts Snow to the edge of the rooftop but is attacked by a PSICOM airship and falls off the roof. Snow jumps to save Hope's life, fulfilling his promise to Hope's mother Nora. Snow and Hope are both weak but Hope overcomes his anger at Snow. The party are soon reunited and Snow, Fang, Lightning, and Hope make their way to the Estheim residence.

Hope tells his dad the news about Nora and at first he is grief-stricken. Bartholomew does not reject the l'Cie and does not take out his remorse on the injured Snow. He points out that attacking the Sanctum will make the citizens of Cocoon hate the l'Cie even more. Before they have time to discuss strategy, the apartment is bombarded by PSICOM troops led by Yaag Rosch. Snow heads outside to confront them and argues with Yaag about the Purge. Cavalry soldiers disguised as PSICOM troops open fire on Yaag and the squadron, giving Snow the chance to sneak back to the house while the others tie up Hope's father so PSICOM does not know he helped them.

The team is saved by the arrival of a Cavalry airship, and they leave Palumpolum behind. Hope takes a final moment to promise his father he will be back when his Focus is over.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Although Palumpolum is a non-visitable location, the story bits contained in fragments say the city was nearly undamaged by Cocoon's fall and many people stayed in the city.

The Metrostile

 * Corps Tranquifex x2
 * Corps Tranquifex x3
 * Corps Pacifex x1
 * Corps Tranquifex x1, Corps Pacifex x2
 * Falco Velocycle x1

Nutriculture Complex

 * Flanitor x2 (Three separate encounters)
 * Lucidon x1 (Two separate encounters)
 * Flanitor x1, Lucidon x1
 * Flanitor x3

The Agora

 * Orion x1, PSICOM Predator x1,
 * PSICOM Bombardier x1, Corps Tranquifex x3

Pedestrian Terraces

 * PSICOM Scavenger x1, Corps Pacifex x2
 * PSICOM Predator x1, Corps Pacifex x4
 * PSICOM Warlord x1, Corps Pacifex x2
 * PSICOM Scavenger x1, Corps Tranquifex x2
 * Corps Tranquifex x4, PSICOM Bombardier x1
 * PSICOM Warlord x1, PSICOM Predator x1, Corps Tranquifex x2

The Back Alleys

 * Corps Tranquifex x2, Corps Pacifex x2
 * Orion x1
 * PSICOM Predator x1, Corps Pacifex x3

Western Promenade

 * Corps Pacifex x3
 * Corps Tranquifex x1, Corps Pacifex x1
 * Corps Tranquifex x3
 * Corps Tranquifex x2, Corps Pacifex x1
 * PSICOM Bombardier x1, Corps Tranquifex x3
 * Orion x1
 * Orion x1, PSICOM Scavenger x1

Central Arcade

 * Corps Tranquifex x2, Corps Pacifex x2
 * Corps Tranquifex x1, Corps Pacifex x2
 * Lodestar Behemoth x1
 * Corps Pacifex x1, Corps Tranquifex x2
 * Orion x2

Eastern Promenade

 * PSICOM Aerial Sniper x3
 * PSICOM Aerial Sniper x1
 * PSICOM Aerial Sniper x2

Rivera Towers

 * PSICOM Aerial Sniper x3 (Two separate encounters)
 * Falco Velocycle x1 (Two separate encounters)
 * PSICOM Aerial Sniper x2 (Two separate encounters)
 * Falco Velocycle x1, PSICOM Aerial Sniper x1
 * Falco Velocycle x1, PSICOM Aerial Sniper x2
 * Ushumgal Subjugator x1 (Boss)

Felix Heights

 * Corps Pacifex x3, PSICOM Scavenger x1
 * PSICOM Predator x2, Orion x1
 * Corps Pacifex x2
 * Lodestar Behemoth x1, PSICOM Bombardier x1
 * Ushumgal Subjugator x1 (Boss)

The Estheim Residence

 * PSICOM Scavenger x2, PSICOM Aerial Sniper x2
 * PSICOM Bombardier x1, PSICOM Scavenger x2
 * PSICOM Bombardier x1, PSICOM Predator x2
 * Havoc Skytank x1, Portside Turret x1, Starboard Turret x1, Portside Hull x1, Starboard Hull x1 (Boss)

Grinding Spot
The Estheim Residence can be used as a grinding place for Crystarium Points, but mostly for gil after PSICOM raids it. The officers drop Incentive Chips, which can be sold for 2,500 gil at the save station, and the officers constantly respawn so as long as the player eliminates both enemy parties and moves to the back part of the residence.

Music
Several background tracks play in Palumpolum, such as "The Warpath Home", "The Hanging Edge", "Snow's Theme", "Desperate Struggle", "Will to Fight", and "This Is Your Home", all apart from the several tracks present in cutscenes.

Trivia

 * The city's name is a reference to Final Fantasy IV's twin mages, Palom and Porom.

Palumpolum