elementcollector1
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Since this is the first one of these I've posted in a looooong while, I'll note at the beginning that these are just thought experiments about the biology of certain Pokemon that I decided to post for some public feedback.
Castform, the Weather Pokemon, is a small, off-white aggregate of cloudlike matter with eyes and a mouth. It is based on the teru teru bōzu doll (literally ‘shine shine monk’), an object of Japanese folklore that is crafted with the purpose of bringing good weather and stopping or preventing rainy days. They are constructed primarily of cotton or tissue paper and hung on a string before an accompanying prayer is chanted for good weather – if the weather does turn out well, they are then libated (poured drink on as an offering to a deity) with holy sake and are then washed away in the river. Praying for rainy weather is accomplished by hanging them upside-down.
Interestingly, the Pokedex has much to say about Castform’s biology and abilities. The following entries have been curated for accuracy and storytelling:
“It alters its form depending on the weather. Changes in the climate such as the temperature and the humidity appear to affect its cellular structure.” (Emerald)
“Its appearance changes with the weather. Recently, its molecules were found to be just like water.” (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum)
“Although its form changes with the weather, that is apparently the result of a chemical reaction and not the result of its own free will.” (Normal form, Ultra Sun)
“This is the form Castform takes on the brightest of days. Its skin is unexpectedly hot to the touch, so approach with care.” (Sunny form, Sun)
“This is the form Castform takes on bright days. In an experiment where Castform was placed in front of a heater, it didn’t change to this form.” (Sunny form, Ultra Sun)
“Castform changes to this form when it basks in bright sunlight. When you touch its glowing skin, it feels all dried out!” (Sunny form, Ultra Moon)
“This is the form Castform takes when soaked with rain. When its body is compressed, water will seep out as if from a sponge.” (Rainy form, Sun)
“This is Castform’s form during a downpour of rain. Its body retains moisture and gets slippery.” (Rainy form, Moon)
“Castform changes to this form when rain hits it. Its body is soft and slightly swollen with water.” (Rainy form, Ultra Sun)
“This is Castform’s form when pelted by rain. In an experiment where it was placed in a shower, this Pokemon didn’t change to this form.” (Rainy form, Ultra Moon)
“This is the form Castform takes when covered in snow. Its body becomes an ice-like material, with a temperature near 23 degrees Fahrenheit.” (Snowy form, Sun)
“This is Castform’s form when caught in a hailstorm. Its cold skin is as smooth as ice.” (Snowy form, Moon)
“This is the form Castform takes when hit by hail. In an experiment where it was placed in a freezer, it didn’t change to this form.” (Snowy form, Ultra Sun)
“This is Castform’s form when caught in a hailstorm. Its whole body is chilled, and its skin is partially frozen!” (Snowy form, Ultra Moon)
From this, we can infer a variety of things:
-Castform’s body changes surface temperature to match local weather conditions. This means it can survive temperatures as low as -5 oC and possibly as high as 45 oC (beyond this, first-degree burns would be incurred on contact). It may also change surface texture to avoid damage from various forms of weather.
-Castform’s form changes were initially thought to be dependent on temperature and humidity, but were instead found to be due to chemical reactions.
-Castform’s forms cannot be artificially induced, and are dependent on genuine weather conditions.
-The molecules that make up Castform’s body are found to be ‘just like water.’
Castform itself is noted as an artificial Pokemon created by the Weather Institute just off Route 121 in the Hoenn region during the events of Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. Its general shape and color in an unaltered state is suggestive of clouds, but at its typical weight (0.8 kg or 1.8 lbs) and listed height (0.3 m or 1’0”), a perfectly spherical Castform would have a density of approximately 56.6 kg/m3, which seems a bit high for clouds – a typical cumulus cloud has a liquid water content of about 0.25 – 0.30 g/m3, or 0.00025-0.00030 kg/m3. Using scaled volumetric data from Pokemon X and Y, a Castform at scale height has a volume of 0.00322333978 m3 and thus a density of about 248 kg/m3. The same mass, for a more accurate (and lesser) volume gives a higher density, so this seems reasonable mathematically, but it still raises questions scientifically, as it’s about a quarter of the density of water at standard temperature and pressure. Even the densest of clouds, a cumulonimbus, has a liquid water content of just 3 g/m3 or 0.003 kg/m3. Adding this to the average density of air at standard pressure and temperature (and sea level altitude), at 1.225 kg/m3, would mean that the average cloud has almost negligible amounts of water when compared to its air content – the only reason we would think otherwise is because of the sheer size and thus total water mass.
Thus, Castform cannot be solely made of clouds, and must have additional components. If we assume these additional components have a similar density to that of the average animal (about 1066 kg/m3), using the rule of mixtures to solve for Castform’s cloud composition by volume would give:
800 grams = (1.066 g/cm3 * x cm3) + ((3223.33978 cm3 – x cm3)*0.001228 g/cm3)
x = 747.617 cm3 (or 23.2 vol%)
y = (3223.33978 cm3 – x cm3) = 2475.72 cm3 (or 76.8 vol%)
This makes sense, as a little bit of cloud would have to occupy a significant amount of volume in order to alter the density this much. To find how much of Castform’s weight is cloud and how much is animal tissue, we can simply multiply these volumes by their corresponding densities:
(1.066 g/cm3 * 747.617 cm3) = 796.96 grams animal tissue (or 0.79696 kg, or 99.62 wt%)
(0.001228 g/cm3 * 2475.72 cm3) = 3.04 grams cloud (or 0.00304 kg, or 0.38 wt%)
As a sanity check, we can note that both of these weights add exactly to 0.8 kg – our starting weight for Castform – and that the extremely low-density cloud occupies a significant volume while contributing an insignificant mass. Thus, from this, we can reasonably assume that if Castform is based on an animal, the vast majority of its visible body is cloud, with only a tiny amount actually indicative of the creature hiding inside. However, Castform could be based on something inorganic like Porygon – but given the presence of eyes and a mouth, this seems somewhat unlikely. (It’s worth noting that other seemingly inorganic lifeforms like Nosepass and Geodude are not called out by Professor Laventon in Legends: Arceus as such, in comparison to Porygon and Magnemite which are). A perfectly spherical animalistic Castform hidden inside its cloud body would have a radius of about 8.39 cm or 83.9 mm, well within the 91.9-mm radius sphere that comprises the bulk of Castform’s visible body.
However, the 8 millimeters of cloud material covering Castform’s main body would hardly be opaque unless it was thick enough – the most opaque fogs reported by the Met Office reach just 20 meters’ visibility, still far above our estimate of 8 mm. You can observe this for yourself by standing in fog – nearer to you, objects are still visible and the fog is transparent, but as you look at objects farther and farther away (through a thicker and thicker cross-section of fog), they become more and more obscured by an increasingly opaque white color. Fog density versus liquid water content ranges from 0.05 g/m3 (visibility 300 m) to 0.5 g/m3 (visibility 50 m). It can be assumed that the maximum visibility reported for a fog, 1000 m, would then take place at the farthest end of the reported density range, or 0.03 g/m3. For a visibility of just 8 mm, then, the fog would, according to an exponential relationship of the equation LWC = A+(BeCV) where LWC = liquid water content (g/m3), V = visibility (in meters), and A, B and C are constants (A = 0.029995, B = 0.883551 and C = -0.01262 respectively for a X2 of 1.67 x 10-5), have a density of at least 0.913 grams per meter – thick, to be sure, but not obscenely so and well within the limits of possibility. This changed density (about 1.225913 kg/m3 as compared to 1.228 kg/m3 from the initial calculations) does not alter either the mass percent or volume percent of cloud beyond 0.1% in either case – fitting, given the small change in density. It would seem the average thundercloud is far more opaque than even the thickest fogs.
The act of cloud seeding, which encourages existing clouds to precipitate more efficiently over an area (and is thus used in sporting events, both to drop fresh snow and prevent rain in specific areas), is managed by literally ‘seeding’ clouds in the air with chemicals like sodium chloride salt (hygroscopic seeding, which encourages rain in warm clouds) and silver iodide or calcium chloride (glaciogenic seeding, which encourages ice crystal formation in cold clouds and thus snow or hail) to cause specific effects. In theory, this could also be used to enforce sunny weather, or an absence of clouds – by forcing precipitation in all surrounding areas, the subsequently drier air would erode a central cloud into a much more dispersed mass of water, causing it to seemingly vanish. This action would explain both Castform’s weather-altering capabilities and be easily obtained with relatively normal biology – a buildup of the requisite sodium and calcium salts within the body could be ejected at high speeds into the atmosphere much like real-world cloud-seeding pellets, where it would then explode into an aerosol, mix with the cloud, and subsequently alter it appropriate to the desired weather situation. If these salts were present as part of the aerosol or fog surrounding Castform’s real body, they would in addition further obscure it from the eye, being able to scatter different wavelengths of light than solely water. While the exact content of these salts could only be empirically determined, it doesn’t really matter for the purposes of our calculations, since Castform is already opaque enough by this math.
So what would Castform look like under the clouds? For starters, its body would have to support its own weight, likely by shifting air currents underneath it – an easy enough task, given Castform’s low weight. For a column of air measuring about 184 mm in diameter, it would need to push away a weight (mass times gravitational acceleration, to be clear) equivalent to Castform’s own, every second, to sustain lift. If this air is of average density (and thus doesn’t appear to visibly contribute to Castform’s body, being relatively dry and clear), this would require a sustained airflow of about 0.653 m3 per second, with a linear velocity away from Castform of about 24.56 m/s, or about 55 miles per hour – a strong wind, to be sure! However, it would contribute surprisingly little noise, as most wind-producing objects like fans, planes, helicopters and wind turbines only produce noise from movement of mechanical components, with a small contribution from when the wind interacts with an object (the sound of being buffeted by winds is actually the wind itself interacting with your ear drum). By comparison, the weakest of hurricanes (Category 1) has a sustained wind speed of 74 to 95 miles per hour and results in very little structural or property damage (with the possible exceptions of mobile homes, weak trees, or poorly attached roof shingles), meaning while Castform’s levitation wind is certainly strong, it’s not enough to do any major damage to the surrounding area. For comparison, the wind speed under an average consumer drone with 4 5-inch fans weighing between 250 and 1300 grams would be between 4 and 21 m/s (under each fan), meaning Castform has an effect only slightly stronger (and probably substantially quieter) than the average consumer drone.
This wouldn’t be done with the two teardrop-shaped ‘limbs’ underneath Castform’s main bulk, so we can only assume this is done by the usual Pokemon telekinesis of various particles and thus does not stem from any biological function. (Interestingly, this would place Castform as somewhat similar to Gastly in overall composition and abilities, but simply focused on different molecules and containing a hidden physical body – possibly a basis for their ‘artificial’ creation?) If this is true, Castform wouldn’t need any true ‘limbs’, as its own abilities support its weight, and it could very well be a simple sphere in general appearance. Castform’s ‘goggles’ would then be an adaptation around the eye areas of thinner ‘fog’ to ensure visibility, and the mouth would be similar (though possibly somewhat extruded from the inner surface, as it appears to be directly at the surface of the body). The lower, limb-like appendages could (in theory) be used as limbs if ‘unfurled’ in a manner to affect local airflow – I’d imagine this design as something similar to a catcher’s mitt in baseball, for maximum surface area interaction.
Of course, given the appearance of Castform’s other forms, it’s entirely possible that this is all mistaken conjecture and the entirety of Castform’s body is actually tangible. However, as Castform fails to change weight even when surrounded by a giant raindrop, producing several smaller orbs in a sunlike fashion, or surrounding itself with what looks to be a cyclonic cloud (and yet more smaller orbs), I can only assume these features are ephemeral in nature (except the water?). They would need to scatter controllable wavelengths of light (or, in other words, color themselves), as well as change shape. Taking Rainy Castform as an example, we have about 3.04 grams water to work with, which would constitute a shell of just 0.029 millimeters of water around the central body at the appropriate radius – utterly transparent and just about useless for our example. Because the average density of Castform’s animalistic body includes the substantial water content present inside the average animal, this can’t be used either, meaning Rainy Castform’s blue, teardrop-like shell cannot be simply water – and by Occam’s Razor, it should then be the same material composition as the rest of Castform’s form changes.
Colored fog is difficult to produce – all water-based fogs tend towards a whitish color, somewhat grayed by its translucency. Typical fog machines use either light or additive chemicals to achieve color – the first is unlikely but possible, as Castform’s forms are visibly colored even in the daytime, and the second requires some more interesting chemistry. Any chemical dye or paint would appropriately color a fog (see ‘gender reveal parties’). The focus, then, should be on extremely simple dye compounds that might be expected in the atmosphere. Below is a list of possibilities, as well as the colors they provoke in atmospheric smog (smoke + fog):
Reddish-brown: Nitrogen oxides (NO, NO[sub]2[/sub])
Blue: Ozone (O[sub]3[/sub])
Black to grey: Carbon particulates (C, C[sub]x[/sub])
Yellow: certain types of particulate matter such as Sahara dust
Additionally, purple could be caused by iodine (I[sub]2[/sub]) or a mixture of dilute nitrogen oxides (yellowish) and ozone (blue) – however, since purple is only present on Snowy Castform’s internal body, we might assume this is due to the internal body coloring itself by emitting light. This is even supported by the Pokedex, which notes that Sunny Castform’s skin glows. If it can glow in a range from red to blue, including purple, this might serve as a local temperature indicator (a useful thing for a Weather Institute looking to create a Pokemon to monitor weather changes).
Thus, for each form, we can assume the following:
Normal Castform: Just water!
Sunny Castform: Nitrogen oxides (NO2 mostly) + thin water-clouds at the bottom
Rainy Castform: Ozone (O3) + very thick water-clouds at the bottom
Snowy Castform: Dilute mixture of both nitrogen oxide (NO2) and ozone (O3)
Interestingly, these pollutants also correspond inversely to weather changes! Excess ozone (blue) warms the atmosphere, and is produced more in sunny weather, while excess nitrogen oxides (red) are largely removed by precipitation of either solid or liquid water (in sufficient concentrations, this results in acid rain). This may, in fact, turn Castform into mobile pollution removers – in exchange for maintaining their vivid colors, pollution from the nearby atmosphere is removed in large quantities. These pollutions could then be inversely chosen from their affects on or by weather so that Castform can maintain the visible appearance of its form change, even under the conditions of the change itself. Interestingly, Galarian Weezing (which have been around far longer if Legends: Arceus is to be believed, and perform the same or a very similar role) are not found in the Japanese regions of the Pokemon world, even imported like the Alolan forms, suggesting they are not effective in this environment or upon these pollutants.
From all of this, we can conclude the following:
-Castform’s body is, volumetrically, mostly composed (76.8 vol%, 0.38 wt%) of fog or cloud (a visible aerosol of water vapor). This obscures a real body composed of typical animal materials (23.2 vol%, 99.62 wt%) of approximately 168 mm in diameter which is just 8mm below the surface of Normal Castform’s foggy outer cover, and is directly visible in all other forms. This inner body can glow red, and its skin changes temperature, surface roughness and moisture content based on the current weather. It sustains its own levitation by producing wind beneath itself via Flying-type abilities – while strong, this wind is likely much quieter than an equivalent drone or mechanical device.
-Castform alters weather by the use of cloud seeding. To force sunny weather, it first seeds all the clouds in the surrounding area, causing them to rain, so that the clouds directly overhead simply dissipate into the now-drier air. To force rainy or snowy weather, it either seeds the cloud with glaciogenic hygroscopic salts (cooling the cloud by endothermic dissolution and forcing it to crystallize ice) or regular hygroscopic salts (forcing it to precipitate water). In doing so, it also absorbs atmospheric contaminants such as NO[sub]2[/sub] and O[sub]3[/sub], which it then uses as colorants for its various forms, effectively scavenging major pollutants from the atmosphere. To achieve this, it contains significant quantities of calcium chloride and/or sodium chloride in its body, which it can expel at will into the clouds, dispersing granules of these salts to act as seeds.
Castform, the Weather Pokemon, is a small, off-white aggregate of cloudlike matter with eyes and a mouth. It is based on the teru teru bōzu doll (literally ‘shine shine monk’), an object of Japanese folklore that is crafted with the purpose of bringing good weather and stopping or preventing rainy days. They are constructed primarily of cotton or tissue paper and hung on a string before an accompanying prayer is chanted for good weather – if the weather does turn out well, they are then libated (poured drink on as an offering to a deity) with holy sake and are then washed away in the river. Praying for rainy weather is accomplished by hanging them upside-down.
Interestingly, the Pokedex has much to say about Castform’s biology and abilities. The following entries have been curated for accuracy and storytelling:
“It alters its form depending on the weather. Changes in the climate such as the temperature and the humidity appear to affect its cellular structure.” (Emerald)
“Its appearance changes with the weather. Recently, its molecules were found to be just like water.” (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum)
“Although its form changes with the weather, that is apparently the result of a chemical reaction and not the result of its own free will.” (Normal form, Ultra Sun)
“This is the form Castform takes on the brightest of days. Its skin is unexpectedly hot to the touch, so approach with care.” (Sunny form, Sun)
“This is the form Castform takes on bright days. In an experiment where Castform was placed in front of a heater, it didn’t change to this form.” (Sunny form, Ultra Sun)
“Castform changes to this form when it basks in bright sunlight. When you touch its glowing skin, it feels all dried out!” (Sunny form, Ultra Moon)
“This is the form Castform takes when soaked with rain. When its body is compressed, water will seep out as if from a sponge.” (Rainy form, Sun)
“This is Castform’s form during a downpour of rain. Its body retains moisture and gets slippery.” (Rainy form, Moon)
“Castform changes to this form when rain hits it. Its body is soft and slightly swollen with water.” (Rainy form, Ultra Sun)
“This is Castform’s form when pelted by rain. In an experiment where it was placed in a shower, this Pokemon didn’t change to this form.” (Rainy form, Ultra Moon)
“This is the form Castform takes when covered in snow. Its body becomes an ice-like material, with a temperature near 23 degrees Fahrenheit.” (Snowy form, Sun)
“This is Castform’s form when caught in a hailstorm. Its cold skin is as smooth as ice.” (Snowy form, Moon)
“This is the form Castform takes when hit by hail. In an experiment where it was placed in a freezer, it didn’t change to this form.” (Snowy form, Ultra Sun)
“This is Castform’s form when caught in a hailstorm. Its whole body is chilled, and its skin is partially frozen!” (Snowy form, Ultra Moon)
From this, we can infer a variety of things:
-Castform’s body changes surface temperature to match local weather conditions. This means it can survive temperatures as low as -5 oC and possibly as high as 45 oC (beyond this, first-degree burns would be incurred on contact). It may also change surface texture to avoid damage from various forms of weather.
-Castform’s form changes were initially thought to be dependent on temperature and humidity, but were instead found to be due to chemical reactions.
-Castform’s forms cannot be artificially induced, and are dependent on genuine weather conditions.
-The molecules that make up Castform’s body are found to be ‘just like water.’
Castform itself is noted as an artificial Pokemon created by the Weather Institute just off Route 121 in the Hoenn region during the events of Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. Its general shape and color in an unaltered state is suggestive of clouds, but at its typical weight (0.8 kg or 1.8 lbs) and listed height (0.3 m or 1’0”), a perfectly spherical Castform would have a density of approximately 56.6 kg/m3, which seems a bit high for clouds – a typical cumulus cloud has a liquid water content of about 0.25 – 0.30 g/m3, or 0.00025-0.00030 kg/m3. Using scaled volumetric data from Pokemon X and Y, a Castform at scale height has a volume of 0.00322333978 m3 and thus a density of about 248 kg/m3. The same mass, for a more accurate (and lesser) volume gives a higher density, so this seems reasonable mathematically, but it still raises questions scientifically, as it’s about a quarter of the density of water at standard temperature and pressure. Even the densest of clouds, a cumulonimbus, has a liquid water content of just 3 g/m3 or 0.003 kg/m3. Adding this to the average density of air at standard pressure and temperature (and sea level altitude), at 1.225 kg/m3, would mean that the average cloud has almost negligible amounts of water when compared to its air content – the only reason we would think otherwise is because of the sheer size and thus total water mass.
Thus, Castform cannot be solely made of clouds, and must have additional components. If we assume these additional components have a similar density to that of the average animal (about 1066 kg/m3), using the rule of mixtures to solve for Castform’s cloud composition by volume would give:
800 grams = (1.066 g/cm3 * x cm3) + ((3223.33978 cm3 – x cm3)*0.001228 g/cm3)
x = 747.617 cm3 (or 23.2 vol%)
y = (3223.33978 cm3 – x cm3) = 2475.72 cm3 (or 76.8 vol%)
This makes sense, as a little bit of cloud would have to occupy a significant amount of volume in order to alter the density this much. To find how much of Castform’s weight is cloud and how much is animal tissue, we can simply multiply these volumes by their corresponding densities:
(1.066 g/cm3 * 747.617 cm3) = 796.96 grams animal tissue (or 0.79696 kg, or 99.62 wt%)
(0.001228 g/cm3 * 2475.72 cm3) = 3.04 grams cloud (or 0.00304 kg, or 0.38 wt%)
As a sanity check, we can note that both of these weights add exactly to 0.8 kg – our starting weight for Castform – and that the extremely low-density cloud occupies a significant volume while contributing an insignificant mass. Thus, from this, we can reasonably assume that if Castform is based on an animal, the vast majority of its visible body is cloud, with only a tiny amount actually indicative of the creature hiding inside. However, Castform could be based on something inorganic like Porygon – but given the presence of eyes and a mouth, this seems somewhat unlikely. (It’s worth noting that other seemingly inorganic lifeforms like Nosepass and Geodude are not called out by Professor Laventon in Legends: Arceus as such, in comparison to Porygon and Magnemite which are). A perfectly spherical animalistic Castform hidden inside its cloud body would have a radius of about 8.39 cm or 83.9 mm, well within the 91.9-mm radius sphere that comprises the bulk of Castform’s visible body.
However, the 8 millimeters of cloud material covering Castform’s main body would hardly be opaque unless it was thick enough – the most opaque fogs reported by the Met Office reach just 20 meters’ visibility, still far above our estimate of 8 mm. You can observe this for yourself by standing in fog – nearer to you, objects are still visible and the fog is transparent, but as you look at objects farther and farther away (through a thicker and thicker cross-section of fog), they become more and more obscured by an increasingly opaque white color. Fog density versus liquid water content ranges from 0.05 g/m3 (visibility 300 m) to 0.5 g/m3 (visibility 50 m). It can be assumed that the maximum visibility reported for a fog, 1000 m, would then take place at the farthest end of the reported density range, or 0.03 g/m3. For a visibility of just 8 mm, then, the fog would, according to an exponential relationship of the equation LWC = A+(BeCV) where LWC = liquid water content (g/m3), V = visibility (in meters), and A, B and C are constants (A = 0.029995, B = 0.883551 and C = -0.01262 respectively for a X2 of 1.67 x 10-5), have a density of at least 0.913 grams per meter – thick, to be sure, but not obscenely so and well within the limits of possibility. This changed density (about 1.225913 kg/m3 as compared to 1.228 kg/m3 from the initial calculations) does not alter either the mass percent or volume percent of cloud beyond 0.1% in either case – fitting, given the small change in density. It would seem the average thundercloud is far more opaque than even the thickest fogs.
The act of cloud seeding, which encourages existing clouds to precipitate more efficiently over an area (and is thus used in sporting events, both to drop fresh snow and prevent rain in specific areas), is managed by literally ‘seeding’ clouds in the air with chemicals like sodium chloride salt (hygroscopic seeding, which encourages rain in warm clouds) and silver iodide or calcium chloride (glaciogenic seeding, which encourages ice crystal formation in cold clouds and thus snow or hail) to cause specific effects. In theory, this could also be used to enforce sunny weather, or an absence of clouds – by forcing precipitation in all surrounding areas, the subsequently drier air would erode a central cloud into a much more dispersed mass of water, causing it to seemingly vanish. This action would explain both Castform’s weather-altering capabilities and be easily obtained with relatively normal biology – a buildup of the requisite sodium and calcium salts within the body could be ejected at high speeds into the atmosphere much like real-world cloud-seeding pellets, where it would then explode into an aerosol, mix with the cloud, and subsequently alter it appropriate to the desired weather situation. If these salts were present as part of the aerosol or fog surrounding Castform’s real body, they would in addition further obscure it from the eye, being able to scatter different wavelengths of light than solely water. While the exact content of these salts could only be empirically determined, it doesn’t really matter for the purposes of our calculations, since Castform is already opaque enough by this math.
So what would Castform look like under the clouds? For starters, its body would have to support its own weight, likely by shifting air currents underneath it – an easy enough task, given Castform’s low weight. For a column of air measuring about 184 mm in diameter, it would need to push away a weight (mass times gravitational acceleration, to be clear) equivalent to Castform’s own, every second, to sustain lift. If this air is of average density (and thus doesn’t appear to visibly contribute to Castform’s body, being relatively dry and clear), this would require a sustained airflow of about 0.653 m3 per second, with a linear velocity away from Castform of about 24.56 m/s, or about 55 miles per hour – a strong wind, to be sure! However, it would contribute surprisingly little noise, as most wind-producing objects like fans, planes, helicopters and wind turbines only produce noise from movement of mechanical components, with a small contribution from when the wind interacts with an object (the sound of being buffeted by winds is actually the wind itself interacting with your ear drum). By comparison, the weakest of hurricanes (Category 1) has a sustained wind speed of 74 to 95 miles per hour and results in very little structural or property damage (with the possible exceptions of mobile homes, weak trees, or poorly attached roof shingles), meaning while Castform’s levitation wind is certainly strong, it’s not enough to do any major damage to the surrounding area. For comparison, the wind speed under an average consumer drone with 4 5-inch fans weighing between 250 and 1300 grams would be between 4 and 21 m/s (under each fan), meaning Castform has an effect only slightly stronger (and probably substantially quieter) than the average consumer drone.
This wouldn’t be done with the two teardrop-shaped ‘limbs’ underneath Castform’s main bulk, so we can only assume this is done by the usual Pokemon telekinesis of various particles and thus does not stem from any biological function. (Interestingly, this would place Castform as somewhat similar to Gastly in overall composition and abilities, but simply focused on different molecules and containing a hidden physical body – possibly a basis for their ‘artificial’ creation?) If this is true, Castform wouldn’t need any true ‘limbs’, as its own abilities support its weight, and it could very well be a simple sphere in general appearance. Castform’s ‘goggles’ would then be an adaptation around the eye areas of thinner ‘fog’ to ensure visibility, and the mouth would be similar (though possibly somewhat extruded from the inner surface, as it appears to be directly at the surface of the body). The lower, limb-like appendages could (in theory) be used as limbs if ‘unfurled’ in a manner to affect local airflow – I’d imagine this design as something similar to a catcher’s mitt in baseball, for maximum surface area interaction.
Of course, given the appearance of Castform’s other forms, it’s entirely possible that this is all mistaken conjecture and the entirety of Castform’s body is actually tangible. However, as Castform fails to change weight even when surrounded by a giant raindrop, producing several smaller orbs in a sunlike fashion, or surrounding itself with what looks to be a cyclonic cloud (and yet more smaller orbs), I can only assume these features are ephemeral in nature (except the water?). They would need to scatter controllable wavelengths of light (or, in other words, color themselves), as well as change shape. Taking Rainy Castform as an example, we have about 3.04 grams water to work with, which would constitute a shell of just 0.029 millimeters of water around the central body at the appropriate radius – utterly transparent and just about useless for our example. Because the average density of Castform’s animalistic body includes the substantial water content present inside the average animal, this can’t be used either, meaning Rainy Castform’s blue, teardrop-like shell cannot be simply water – and by Occam’s Razor, it should then be the same material composition as the rest of Castform’s form changes.
Colored fog is difficult to produce – all water-based fogs tend towards a whitish color, somewhat grayed by its translucency. Typical fog machines use either light or additive chemicals to achieve color – the first is unlikely but possible, as Castform’s forms are visibly colored even in the daytime, and the second requires some more interesting chemistry. Any chemical dye or paint would appropriately color a fog (see ‘gender reveal parties’). The focus, then, should be on extremely simple dye compounds that might be expected in the atmosphere. Below is a list of possibilities, as well as the colors they provoke in atmospheric smog (smoke + fog):
Reddish-brown: Nitrogen oxides (NO, NO[sub]2[/sub])
Blue: Ozone (O[sub]3[/sub])
Black to grey: Carbon particulates (C, C[sub]x[/sub])
Yellow: certain types of particulate matter such as Sahara dust
Additionally, purple could be caused by iodine (I[sub]2[/sub]) or a mixture of dilute nitrogen oxides (yellowish) and ozone (blue) – however, since purple is only present on Snowy Castform’s internal body, we might assume this is due to the internal body coloring itself by emitting light. This is even supported by the Pokedex, which notes that Sunny Castform’s skin glows. If it can glow in a range from red to blue, including purple, this might serve as a local temperature indicator (a useful thing for a Weather Institute looking to create a Pokemon to monitor weather changes).
Thus, for each form, we can assume the following:
Normal Castform: Just water!
Sunny Castform: Nitrogen oxides (NO2 mostly) + thin water-clouds at the bottom
Rainy Castform: Ozone (O3) + very thick water-clouds at the bottom
Snowy Castform: Dilute mixture of both nitrogen oxide (NO2) and ozone (O3)
Interestingly, these pollutants also correspond inversely to weather changes! Excess ozone (blue) warms the atmosphere, and is produced more in sunny weather, while excess nitrogen oxides (red) are largely removed by precipitation of either solid or liquid water (in sufficient concentrations, this results in acid rain). This may, in fact, turn Castform into mobile pollution removers – in exchange for maintaining their vivid colors, pollution from the nearby atmosphere is removed in large quantities. These pollutions could then be inversely chosen from their affects on or by weather so that Castform can maintain the visible appearance of its form change, even under the conditions of the change itself. Interestingly, Galarian Weezing (which have been around far longer if Legends: Arceus is to be believed, and perform the same or a very similar role) are not found in the Japanese regions of the Pokemon world, even imported like the Alolan forms, suggesting they are not effective in this environment or upon these pollutants.
From all of this, we can conclude the following:
-Castform’s body is, volumetrically, mostly composed (76.8 vol%, 0.38 wt%) of fog or cloud (a visible aerosol of water vapor). This obscures a real body composed of typical animal materials (23.2 vol%, 99.62 wt%) of approximately 168 mm in diameter which is just 8mm below the surface of Normal Castform’s foggy outer cover, and is directly visible in all other forms. This inner body can glow red, and its skin changes temperature, surface roughness and moisture content based on the current weather. It sustains its own levitation by producing wind beneath itself via Flying-type abilities – while strong, this wind is likely much quieter than an equivalent drone or mechanical device.
-Castform alters weather by the use of cloud seeding. To force sunny weather, it first seeds all the clouds in the surrounding area, causing them to rain, so that the clouds directly overhead simply dissipate into the now-drier air. To force rainy or snowy weather, it either seeds the cloud with glaciogenic hygroscopic salts (cooling the cloud by endothermic dissolution and forcing it to crystallize ice) or regular hygroscopic salts (forcing it to precipitate water). In doing so, it also absorbs atmospheric contaminants such as NO[sub]2[/sub] and O[sub]3[/sub], which it then uses as colorants for its various forms, effectively scavenging major pollutants from the atmosphere. To achieve this, it contains significant quantities of calcium chloride and/or sodium chloride in its body, which it can expel at will into the clouds, dispersing granules of these salts to act as seeds.
