You get your first good look at Vinmur from the air, as it sits beside a wide river, at the far end of a bay. It's a surprisingly modern city, with buildings lined up in a regular grid pattern. It's downtown area is composed of skyscraper, none of them looking older than a decade old. The smaller buildings surrounding them also seems quite new, some being under construction right now, in fact. The rocky plains surrounding the town has little vegetation, but you notice that even the trees near the city seems younger than the ones further away.

Looking further away in the bay, you spot a few large islands, with a few low gray buildings on them.

Seymour watched their approach through the window with excitement. The place was all fresh and new, in more way than one! He wondered what sorts of pokemon, trainers, and even stores and restaurants they might encounter here.

As they came in for a landing, he asked Jakey, "What should we do first? Relax a bit, or head straight for the nearest gym?" Either way, he figured they would make a stop at a pokemon center first. Get their pokemon checked out after their recent adventure and make any team swaps they needed.

"Dang, this is bigger than home. I wonder if any Kanto city is this BIG."

Jake then pointed to one of the skyscrapers,
"No way I would jump out of THAT top floor. I bet they used one of the cool glass pokemon they have here to help build it fast."

As for what to do first,
"I want to go to the top of the tallest building. Maybe get our pokemon check-up first, but I want a fetcher-eye view of the city, that would be totally cool!"

Major Kaufman talks with one of his assistants, before turning back to you. "Alright, I got you two a room at a local hotel. Dinner included. After the work you did today, you've earned it. Come back to the gym tomorrow. I'll be waiting for you." With a salute, he heads to a police station that looks reinforced enough to serve as a bunker.

You head out into the city, finding the directions to the hotel with your Pokédex. As you walk down the street, you notice a lot of people are wearing a weird form of Punk fashion, in bright yellow rather than the usual black.

"A hotel room? Awesome!" exclaimed Seymour as they parted ways with Major Kaufman. He was eager to meet up again at the gym the next day, but was also excited to relax in a free hotel room for the night. Seymour wondered if it would be fancy. One where Glumpy and Glade could sun themselves on a balcony, and Marigold and Jett could soak in a jacuzzi. And he and Malley and Locke could channel surf on the couch or something.

Seymour realized his daydreams probably weren't super realistic though. Especially since they likely wouldn't even spend a ton of time awake in the hotel room anyway. They had a whole new city to explore!

After making their quick stop at the local pokecenter, Seymour couldn't help but notice the odd local fashions. "I wonder how that fashion trend started," Seymour wondered to Jakey aloud. He examined the style with curiosity, wondering briefly if it was a style he might like to adopt himself. It would certainly be a stark contrast to his usual attire. "It must be related to something local, because we haven't seen it anywhere else. At least not that I have noticed."

Jake grinned as free lodging was given. It was almost like when he did some unofficial housesitting back in the day, but this time the police were providing rather than chasing him out.
As they walked down the street, Jake did not seem too impressed by the style,
"Posers, the lot of them. Gotta wear something more casual if you are getting up to trouble. These ones just want to look like they are trouble. I mean, imagine raising hell, then the police will take one look at you and know exactly who your mum is."
"I guess it is pretty cool if they aren't up to trouble though. But why bother breaking the laws of style without breaking all the laws too?"

Jake's tone was more jocular than serious. He'd been nothing but a law-abiding citi immig tourist ever since he arrived.

Reaching the hotel, you notice a poster that seems linked to the strange fashion. A poster announces an upcoming concerts by 'The King', who wears a flashy gold/yellow attire that include a weird mask, and who poses with two Gholdengo dancers behind him. You don't recall seeing him before, but it seems he's very popular here.

The hotel isn't a high-end luxury hotel, but it's a pretty classic hotel for tourist and travelers, offering comfortable rooms at affordable price. You have a nice two-bedroom chamber to rest in, with a catering menu if you feel like calling room service.

As you consider what to do, Seymour's Pokédex rings, signaling an incoming call.

Seymour was still deciding whether he wanted to seek tickets to The King's concert or whether to try and avoid it, when his pokedex rang. "I'm... getting a call?" he said to Jakey, surprised. Who would be calling him?

Only one way to find out. He answered his pokedex's call. "Hello? Seymour Mons speaking. Who is this?" He made sure to keep the phone close enough that Jakey could hear too, since he figured his friend might also be curious who was calling. He could always move away later if it ended up being a more private matter.

"Hey! I made it to Vinmur!" Phoebe says on the line. "Took a while to find a place where the river didn't have a giant dinosaur and wasn't so deep that I'd drown trying to cross. So how are you two doing? Did Jake get squished by that thing?"

Jake glanced at the phone in a bit of confusion. He hadn't realized Phoebe had tried to cross the river herself. He kinda had figured she was going to fly with them, but had disappeared after him and Seymour started to focus on the tracking project. In any case, it was not that big of a deal,
"Yeah! We also just made it to Vinmur. We got a room for being cool. We only got two beds, but we can make a pillow fort for you though!"

Maybe he should have consulted with Seymour first...

"Yeah, we'll figure something out for the sleeping arrangements," Seymour agreed. "Let me give you the address and room number. The place they gave us for helping get that big Omistar back in its pokeball is pretty sweet." Seymour relayed the info, then added, "See you in a bit!" before ending the call. He was glad Phoebe was alright.

"Should we go check out the tallest building in the city when she gets here?" he asked Jakey, knowing he had expressed interest in doing that during their flight into town.

It takes half an hour for Pheobe to reach you, and the three of you head out to see the large glass tower you've seen from the helicopter. You see the first floor has a Pokémon Center in it, as well as a pair of express elevators heading for the top floor. The kind that have glass walls to let you see outside on the way up. A pair of trainers, a boy and a girl, step inside the elevator, the boy teasing his companion about winning a bet.

Jake didn't mind sharing the elevator with strangers, but also wouldn't mind getting a separate one. After all, he could release his pokemon and have them be impressed by the ride up if they had an elevator to themselves. Along that same line of thinking, Jake let out fairy, fetcher, and feefee.
"Alright you three. I want to have a contest."

He turned to Seymour,
"Feel free to join in!"

Jake then layed down the law,
"First one to the top of the building wins. Fetcher, you would obviously win if this was a fair contest, so you need to carry fairy... you think you can handle the weight?"
"Fairy, if you evolve into a flying type as a result of this, you get a special prize of ... I'll figure it out!"

"Oh, and also no interference. I don't want to get to the top only to see one of you KO'd back on the ground. Sound good?"

"Oh, a race?" asked Seymour, excitedly. He definitely wanted to join in on the fun. He released three pokemon of his own. His Gogoat, Magikarp, and Ditto.

He had Malley turn into a copy of Fetcher and then gave his own pokemon the same rules. "Malley, you need to carry Marigold to make it fair. Glade, you'll take the stairs since youre an expert mountain climber, I think. Pheobe, are you and Dodrio joining in too? I'm ready when you two are!"

"A race? Sure, sounds fun!" She brings out Trio, and climbs on him. Looking behind you, she pauses for a moment, before grinning. "Ready? Set... go!"

Turning around, you see the reason she delayed a bit. The second express elevator just left on their upward trip, leaving you to either wait for them or run for the regular elevators, as your pokemon run off for their own path. Pheobe herself chose to follow Glade up the stairs.

Malley and Fetcher fly out, carrying their teammate on their way up to the roof, while Feefee has already vanished from sight. So what do you do?

Respect the game. Pheobe may have been played when they first met her, but she was a player for sure in this moment. Of course, respecting the game did not preclude swearing at being played,
"Crap! She's good!"

He had originally envisioned a smooth relaxing ride up the elevator as the pokemon did all the hard work. But desperate times...
"Growler, lets get to the stairs and get to the top!" Jake called as he released the pokemon. He hadn't ridden growler before, but since it had evolved, it was certainly big enough. No time like the present to learn how to ride though!

Seymour stood a bit dumbfounded for a moment when the race had begun unexpectedly, and was soon the only participant left standing at the "starting line." "Whelp, I guess I'm going on the elevator alone then..." he said to nobody. He knew there was no chance of him winning with his own athletics, so he might as well enjoy the view from the express elevator. Since it had just left the ground floor, he walked leisurely over to the elevator alcove to wait for them to return.

If there was room, he would release his Shroomish, Nommlin, and Lapimage in the elevator so that they might enjoy the sights on the way up too. If he was lucky, maybe he would still get to the top first. If not, oh well. At least he wouldn't be exhausted.

The arcanine eagerly runs up the stairs, as Jake holds on for dear life. Glade has taken the lead here, jumping across the flights of stairs thanks to her smaller size. Trio and Phoebe do their best to follow, but they have to follow the normal path, slowing them down at each turn. Growler has to do the same, but it looks like you're gaining on Phoebe. But with the excitement of the race, Growler gives a loud and happy bark, letting out a blast of fire... close to a fire alarm!


Waiting for the elevator to return, Seymour sees the two Farfetch'd flying up outside the building, through the large windows on the entry hall. The only way to tell them apart is their carried passenger. But as they try to climb, a stream of water passes between them. It looks like some trainers outside spotted the teams, and are shouting at them and having their own pokemon aim at them.

"Dangit!" Jake cursed as he released Skipper.

"Skipper, try to stop any fire alarms going off. Don't smash them too hard if they go off, but we don't want to panic the whole building!"

Then again, if the whole building was panicked, everyone would rush downstairs... and the elevators might stop. So that meant the flying pokemon would be first to the top. All in all, it might put Fetcher in an OK position to win, but probably not worth the punishment of purposefully setting off a fire alarm.

When Seymour saw the stream of water pass between his and Jakey's pokemon, he knew for sure he was no longer going to win the race. For him, safety took priority. So he rushed outside to give his pokemon some guidance.

"Marigold, draw their attention! Malley, make some cover with a Sand Attack. We need to let Falkner's pokemon reach a safe distance." Seymour looked for the source of the water stream. If they wanted a battle, Seymour was willing to oblige.

---

Using Magikarp's Decoy ability to draw fire from Jakey's pokemon. Malley is using Sand Attack. Malley will also make use of their Sticky Hold ability to ensure it doesn't drop Marigold, if applicable.

Skipper hangs on for dear life, sniping the fire alarms with blasts of water as you pass, stopping them from ringing. Ahead of you, you hear Trio squawking as a pair of old people shout angrily. Turning the corner, you see Phoebe has been stopped by an old couple, complaining about 'kids these days' and 'letting pokemon run wild' and 'in my days' and so on. The lot of them are doing a good job blocking the path up the stairs.

---

Marigold gives her shiniest display, looking as succulent as a Magikarp can be, causing the some of the trainers to hesitate. It seemed like they wanted to rescue the pokemon being carried, but some seems to suddenly want some sushi... Their salivating gets cut short when Malley rains sand down, making their eyes water as they deal with the dust.

That deals with the trainers on the ground and their partners, but Marigold's display also attracted the plague of any sea-side restaurants: Wingulls. You hear them squawk as they glide toward your pokemon, looking for an opening to swipe the glittering morsel carried my Malley.

"Oh no..." whispered Seymour when the Wingulls began to approach. "Nope! Nuh uh. We forfeit! Marigold, Malley, return! We are NOT on the menu today. No race is worth that." Seymour attempted to return both his pokemon to their pokeballs before the Wingulls could close in completely. If successful, he would return indoors and take the elevator up to the top. If he was lucky, maybe Glade had done better than the rest of Team Seymour.

Jake had a single word solution to his problem,
"Roar!"

Surely if it worked on big scary pokemon, it will also make the old couple run away!

Unfortunately, Malley started panicking as the flying swarm surround them, their evasive maneuvers making it very hard to recall them. However, their squawks of panic also draws the attention of Fetcher, who turns back to assist. The result is a confusing dogfight of Air Cutters and showers of glass shards, pushing back the flock of Wingulls.
If you call out to him, Malley may hear you and come back, though they seem to be holding their ground so far.

---

Growler's roar surprises everyone on the road block... but Trio seems to be the most surprised of the group. With a triple squawk, he jumps in the arm of the closest person. The old man. Who is really too old to hold up a big bird like him. Especially not one with a girl on his back.

As he collapse, you barrel past the old woman, confirming every negative opinion she has about 'kids these days'. (Not that there was much you could have done to change that...) That draws you closer to Glade, as you keep racing up the stairs.