components/scenario-form.jsx

@@ -284,6 +284,9 @@ export default function ScenarioForm() {
     setUpdateError(null);
     setCurrentUnderstanding(null);
 
+    // Allow React to render the loading state before awaiting (prevents batching away with instant mocks)
+    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 0));
+
     try {
       const res = await submitScenarioForStartCase(MOCK_ENABLED ? mockFetch : fetch, scenario);
 
@@ -320,6 +323,9 @@ export default function ScenarioForm() {
     setUpdateError(null);
     setLastSubmittedAnswer(answer.trim());
 
+    // Allow React to render the loading state before awaiting (prevents batching away with instant mocks)
+    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 0));
+
     const submission = await submitAnswerForUpdateCase(MOCK_ENABLED ? mockFetch : fetch, {
       situationGraph: result?.situationGraph,
       previousQuestion: result?.selectedQuestion,