Reframe

Leaf meets with her new therapist, Dr. Sotala, via an online call from Unova. She articulates her core moral conflict: she believes that pokemon suffering is as important as human suffering, and that utilizing captured pokemon to fight wilds is acceptable primarily because it helps defend human society, which in turn saves more pokemon from dying violently in the wild. However, the rise of the renegades has made her realize she may need to engage in trainer battles to be prepared to help her friends and stop the assassins. This creates a deep cognitive dissonance, as intentionally exposing her pokemon to pain against other trainers feels unconscionable and triggers a debilitating, jittery empathic pain. Dr. Sotala identifies that she is caught between the mental frames of being a "good caretaker" and a "good friend/citizen." He suggests a multi-pronged approach involving exposure therapy, exploring different mental frames, and parts work to understand what the resistant part of her is trying to protect. He also suggests that she attempt to understand Blue's perspective on why trainer battles matter.

Later, on Cinnabar Island, Leaf and Blue take a break from the laboratory excavation. Leaf is agonizing over a message from Koga: the ninja clan has requested a meeting on neutral ground at the Fuchsia Gym. Despite Blue's insistence that it's too dangerous to go without backup, Leaf resolves to attend, hoping to potentially turn them against Rocket. Blue offers his support, and Leaf eventually asks him to spar with her, wanting him to be her first opponent as she attempts her exposure therapy.

The spar begins with ivysaur (Raff) and Blue's blastoise (Maturin). Leaf's strategy entirely revolves around non-damaging capture techniques like Stun Spore and Toxic, but her empathic pain flares when Raff takes even a glancing Water Gun. She halts the battle almost immediately. When Blue gently critiques her for holding back, noting that her capture-focused strategies are ineffective against renegade pokemon—who fight to the death and cannot be safely captured—Leaf is forced to confront the harsh reality that she must train to do direct damage. A second attempt, where her only goal is to land two Razor Leaf attacks, ends with her breaking down in tears after watching her pokemon get hit.

As they sit and talk through her failure, Leaf vehemently vents her overwhelming stress regarding the hidden lab, the ninja assassins, Rowan's mental break, and her own feelings of inadequacy as she watches Blue and Red rapidly outpace her in strength. Seeking to explain the power gap, Blue reveals a closely guarded secret he and Red discovered during their time at the Dragon Dojo: pokemon grow significantly stronger and faster when exposed to intense, life-threatening danger—or, in Red's case, when that intense emotional state of combat "aliveness" and sharpness is psychically projected into them. The revelation horrifies Leaf. She is disgusted that the universe seemingly rewards pokemon suffering with increased strength, and terrified of how trainers will abuse this fact if it becomes public knowledge.

Seeking to help her reframe her conflict, Blue challenges her anthropomorphic assumptions. He suggests that while she views her pokemon as children she must protect from harm, they might actually view themselves as proud champions or defenders who find natural purpose and fulfillment in intense combat. Acknowledging that she may be imposing her own aversion to violence onto her pokemon and thereby stunting their natural flourishing, Leaf decides to test the hypothesis. She initiates a third spar, deciding she must observe her pokemon's reactions for herself rather than automatically assuming they only feel pain. When the battle begins again, Leaf commands an offensive strike and finally feels something more than just fear as she watches Raff fiercely engage in combat.