It definitely takes the “Pokémon are slaves” thing and runs with it. You can kill and eat the pals. Some of them are very “human”. You basically stop short of actually whipping them, though I’m sure they’d add that in.
Edit: maybe I’ll clarify, the Syndicate is a group against the mistreatment of pals. You can capture them and force them to work for you. The player is very much the bad guy here.
The Syndicate isn’t against the mistreatment of pals. It’s the team rocket here. They keep pals in metal cages, which you release.
The pal liberation front is what you’re describing instead.