>>47410103since retards ITT are apparently hearing all this for the first time and keep screeching "CLAIR BTFO," I'll play Devil's Advocate and attempt to defend her
Clair is clearly intended to be a strong Trainer. She herself says she can "hold her own" against the Elite Four, and the guy outside her Gym says he's only ever heard of her losing to Lance. There we see the crux of her character: she is held back, both as a Trainer and as a person, by the inferiority complex she has over her Champion cousin. This is further demonstrated by, as you said, her team being an inferior version of Lance's. In-universe, Dragons are supposed to be near invincible and difficult to raise properly. Being anywhere close to Lance in this regard is likely a source of both personal pride and further anxiety for her.
It can be found everywhere. Even the point about her fashion sense is because she's a country bumpkins holed up in the mountains with a clan of other autistic dragon tamers. She doesn't give a fuck what Jasmine or Erika or Silver think of her jumpsuit (which are remarks added in the remake, probably because of Clair's fan reputation)--she wants to be like Lance, the guy who buys capes at the Celadon Department Store. It defines her.
Then a grade schooler barges into her Gym and beats her.
Imagine if you were walking along Victory Road and got your shit stomped by Bug Catcher Billy. I doubt you'd take it with dignity. So she bitches at you and tells you to take the test that she keeps failing.
