Okay, Possible Theory-

Okay, possible theory-

Shadow is taking his cues from parenting from the ARK and Sonic.

Like, the "surpass all limits" sounds like a thing that would have been told to him by Gerald and the other scientists. He didn't get a medal just for getting a good grade, it was acceptable.

He's aware that the ARK's version of parenting was fucked, but he's still working through it, which leads to him also taking cues from Sonic, who raised a semi-stable Tails. Which leads to the embarrassment you mentioned when Sonic demonstrated pride-

Oh. An A is good thing. I should have put it up on the fridge. This is an ARK thing-

Oh, I really like this one… Thanks for sharing!💖