Chinese company Tencent, most known for investing in developers behind games like League of Legends and Valorant, has also been on Pokemon fans' radars this year. Ever since a surprise "Pokemon Presents" announcement near the end of June 2020, Pokemon Trainers have been aware of an upcoming "League of Legends-style" Pokemon game, helmed by Tencent, and dubbed Pokemon Unite.
In a recent development, sharp-eyed gamers noticed a particularly unique Chinese-language hiring notice posted by Tencent, most likely related to either its upcoming Pokemon Unite title, or a new Pokemon game altogether. In short, Tencent seems to be in need of a real-world Pokemon Master.
The person who shared the post, Niko Partners Analyst Daniel Ahmad, has now confirmed that the listing was quietly removed by Tencent, but that's likely simply due to the extra unsolicited attention it recently acquired. Still, Tencent was clearly in need of a Pokemon Master at one point, if it now isn't. And given that Pokemon don't exist, this means that Tencent requires a master of general Pokemon lore and trivia.
The job qualifications apparently include the four very specific skills/milestones below:
- At very minimum, 900 hours of Pokemon playtime, and needless to say, must have cleared every Pokemon game
- Knowledge of Pokemon history
- Ranked "Master Ball" in the main series Pokemon games
- Watched at least 500 episodes of the franchise's anime series
In other words, those without the receipts to prove that they're a Pokemon Master need not apply. Knowledge of Pokemon history is a given, but also an incredibly broad qualification. It implies knowledge of not only the Pokemon games, or TV show, but also of the franchise itself, and how it has evolved, so to speak, since its inception.
On top of this, Tencent is stipulating that applicants should not only have cleared every Pokemon game and clocked at least 900 hours of playtime, but also possess a ranking of "Master Ball" in the games. This is the highest rank available in Ranked Battles against real-world opponents, so Tencent is basically asking for people who have effectively both studied Pokemon, and successfully practiced making use of their studies in real-world battles.
A solid foundation of 500 anime episodes minimum is also an exciting qualification to see, as it implies that Tencent is aware of how Pokemon weaves certain aspects into all of its entities, while keeping other aspects entirely separate. In other words, Tencent knows that this person should be aware of how Pokemon change depending on whether they're in the anime universe or the in-game universe, for example. While this, and the other three qualifications, may all seem like obvious must-haves to Pokemon fans, the specific reason they're exciting to see on this listing is that they confirm that Tencent is at least putting this amount of thought and care into their approach to Pokemon.
Up until now, Pokemon Unite hasn't been well received. However, fans can now rest assured that Tencent is hiring a Pokemon consultant, and to boot, they're demanding that the person be a comprehensively qualified individual, in possession of knowledge and experience only held by someone sincerely devoted to the now-famous Pocket Monsters. And of course, this is indicative of an upcoming game that's been, at the very least, well researched.