Survival

Body Skill

Survival is a Body Skill that governs all sorts of wilderness activities, from starting a fire, to building shelter, to making a trail through heavy brush and shrubbery. Characters with a high Survival Rank spend a lot of time outdoors. Pokémon Rangers and Trainers concerned with conservation efforts and Safari Zones tend to have high Survival Ranks.
Survival can be used in almost any situation in the outdoors, whether it be navigating a snowstorm, foraging for food, or simply setting up camp for the night. It can be used to identify Mushrooms (page 281) that can be picked in the wild as well.
A common use of Survival is to take half an hour or an hour to scout out an area and learn basic information about it – the common Pokémon of the area and what Apricorns or Berries are commonly found in it. For light density wilderness areas such as a savanna or small forest, the DC should be easy for anyone who’s invested in Survival – about a 12. Moderately complex ecosystems such as a foggy wetland may require a check of 16 or so. Denser or harsher areas of wilderness such as tropical rainforests or frigid arctic ecosystems may require a check of 20+. Succeeding by a margin of success of at least 4 should usually result in additional info, such as identifying signs of rare Pokémon or plants.
More than just finding the means to live in the wilds, Survival also covers geology and geography and enables a Trainer to search for useful items, such as Elemental Stones and Fossils (page 216). Spelunking also falls under the purview of Survival. Survival can also be used to track someone through the wilderness. This is usually an Opposed Check between a Trainer’s Survival and their target’s Stealth. However, certain environments may make tracking easier or more difficult. Impose a circumstantial penalty to a target being tracked through a desert or to the tracker trying to find signs of movement through a dark gloomy cave.

Despite counting as a Body Category Skill, Survival also counts as an Education Skill.

Apricorn Balls
Prerequisites: Novice Survival or Adept Technology
Effect: As an Extended Action, you may craft Apricorns into their corresponding Poké Ball. Use of this Feature requires access to a Poké Ball Tool Box.

Green Thumb
Prerequisites: Novice General Education or Novice Survival
Effect: You know how to grow Apricorns and Tier 1 Berries using a Portable Grower or Fertilized Soil.

Traveler
Prerequisites: Novice Survival
Effect: You may use Survival instead of Athletics and Acrobatics to determine your Power Capability, High Jump, and Long Jump values. Determine your Overland Movement by substituting your Survival Rank for the lower of your Athletics or Acrobatics Rank.

Paleontologist
Prerequisites: Novice Pokemon Education or Novice Survival
Effect: You can identify fossils with a DC 10 Pokémon Education or Survival Check. You know how to operate Reanimation Machines and can use them to revive Fossils. See the “Pokémon Fossils” section (page 216) for more information.

Survival Drive
Prerequisites: Adept Survival
Effect: You learn the Move Bulk Up.