If you don't want to fight an encounter, avoiding it is always an option!
I might be missing some mechanics, but the car needs fuel and the party can be underlevelled for a boss battle, reliably leading to a defeat. Both, fuel and items, require ⛽P to get, thus encounters are not exactly avoidable but strongly encouraged (with Devil Clock on - late-game upgrades take quite a lot of materials), even if the only thing they consume is time.
Hello again.
I just wanted to say thank you for GITCL.
I've finished the game and, if I may provide feedback, it would have been more enjoyable experience if it was a visual novel (the narrative, writing, and the story itself are good), even a kinetic one, or the combat and inventory management were limited to the boss battles.
As is, GITCL lacked any form of roleplay or the player's agency (beyond the above-mentioned inventory management) to be anywhere close to RPGs (e.g. Pathfinder, Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate).