I applied online. I interviewed at The Pokémon Company International in Feb 2026
Interview
I had an initial screening call with an internal recruiter. The screening call was over video conferencing, it was very swift and the recruiter did not even turn their camera on, and they launched straight into talking really fast without any introductions or niceties, so I didn't even have a chance to highlight that they camera was off. So I was speaking to a picture of a Pokémon for 30 minutes which was a bit awkward. They also didn't ask me any questions about myself or my experience, so really the call was more to give me information rather than an interview.
At the end of the call I was told I would be sent a HackerRank test to complete before proceeding to the next rounds. The HackerRank test was completely impossible. The time limit given was extremely unrealistic especially as you are not allowed to search outside of the test platform. This is not reflective of the skills required or how we approach the job, especially in 2026 where every engineer uses AI. The IDE gives some hints for functions, but the exercises required usage of libraries so not allowing search for documentation is ridiculous, you can't expect candidates to have memories libraries (I had never even used this one before). Also one of the questions was to build a whole React feature in 30 minutes, and the test platform spun up a WHOLE APP, and the feature itself was hidden behind auth. So I had to create a fake account on this fake app, so I used an insecure password, my Chrome extension alerted me to the weak password, and then HackerRank said I was going to flagged for cheating because I "left the browser window".
Honestly it was so ridiculous it became funny. Naturally I did not pass the HackerRank stage! It showed me that the company is inexperienced in hiring engineers.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at The Pokémon Company International (Bellevue, WA) in Feb 2026
Interview
The interview process was pretty average, but it is very evident they don't know what they want. Overall turnaround for response was about 7 months, which initially made me think whoever they previously picked out fell through.
The job description listed Power BI, however during the interview process, the hiring manager threw a bombshell and told me they are a Tableau shop and don't use Power BI. Then why even list Power BI as your primary requirement? The job description also listed how they want to drive innovation through automation with "AI-enabled" outcomes. When I inquired into this, it didn't really seem like the engineer who was interviewing me for the team knew what it meant either. The fact that this happened twice was very eyebrow-raising.
My main recommendation: Be prepared to have them rug pull and change the job description on the fly. It happened in both interviews.
Given the sheer amount of interviews they go through gives me the impression they are either looking for a golden unicorn, or there is a mass disconnect between what engineering wants and what gets posted. Either way, it doesn't look good.
For technical, be prepared to provide nothing less than an expert level of understanding and clarity.
Most importantly, just be yourself and don't feel bad if you don't make it. Their selection process is a mystery.
I interviewed at The Pokémon Company International (London, England)
Interview
Initial screening with recruiter.
30 minute interview with hiring manager.
6 round interview with various stakeholders - Each round was 30 minutes each and focused on different core values of the company overall.