>>59009759There's that but I think Clair's silently applying a lesson from the incident to not make things all about herself. She's not the main focus here. But that doesn't mean she's unimportant or not benefiting from the experience as much as everyone else even if she's on the losing end. I believe Lance has her in mind too.
>>59009837Gym leaders are trying to win. They may even want to win, which isn't necessarily wrong. They're trainers too, they want to succeed and improve. But the nature of their job is they're challenging themselves to lose. They're pushing their opponents to overcome them.
That communicates the message that winning isn't everything. Unfortunately it's a message that Clair, though strong and capable enough to merit the position of gym leader, still hadn't gotten and while I doubt this incident has happen before, it was bound to happen eventually. She loses to the player but she'll be all the better for it.
