** Making Pokemon-style battle scenes?

Hi crew,

I've been working on a game that is somewhat similar to the GameBoy Pokemons. It's time for me to start working on the battle system.

1. Should the battle screen be held within a new layer or a new layout? - I currently have only two layouts; one for the large continuous "outside" world and the other for the self contained "inside" spaces. - I have two global layers; GUI for the buttons and Menu for the "home" menu.
2. How should I deal with the AI? - The games will be several different types of simple card battles, in which the player will have to match the card with its name before the opponent. So I was thinking maybe, to deal with the enemy AI, set it up as a random countdown timer chosen from within a set range, the range being linked to the opponents 'difficulty' level?
3. How should I deal with changing text? - I'm also having this issue within the menu screen. I'm not exactly sure how to target one specific onscreen text-box and then have it change according to the in game actions. I'll probably have to have an array, and then have it pull from there, but this is all getting very confusing for me. My brain is about to implode.
4. How should I deal with player/enemy stats (health, difficulty, 'moves'/cards)- I understand this is a pretty vague question. I'd like to have a very simple level up system that increases the players stats. Probably also should be connected to an array?

I'm not sure if those questions make any sense, but i'd like to hear your two cents. If any tutorials or examples that come mind, please be kind and help me find. I'm really having fun playing with construct! Help me so I don't self-destruct.

1. It is a matter of preferences and design of your game. In the absolute you could put everything in a single layer on the "main" layout. Does it make sense in your game ? Are you gaining anything from having the battles directly on the map ? and so on. In order to make things easier for you, using an extra layout means all the elements, layering and a dedicated event sheet can be applied to this battle layout where you can focus solely on battles.
2. AI is a vast topic. If you feel your timer idea is appropriate to your game, reinforces the fun, offers a good challenge and allows you a progression in the difficulty to oppose to your player in order to keep the challenges interesting (so the player keeps wanting to play and progress more) go for it. This is more a question of game design than actual realization.
3. To target a specific instance, picking is the key. You can check the numerous examples in the C2 how do I FAQ, they translate to Construct 3 as well. Use an instance variable, apply a different value to each instance. When you know what instance you want to apply a modification to, simply add a condition checking the value of the instance variable is the value of the instance you want to modify.
4. A stats system for your player could be tied to an array, but could also be tied to global variables only. You possibly have a single player in your game, as such dedicated global variables could hold its stats. For enemies, you may have the same. Consider "plHealth", "plDiff", "plMoves" and "eHealth", "eDiff", "eMoves", assuming you only have a single enemy at a time. Possibly¨the "Moves" variable could contain an array (as JSON) if you have several cards/moves that could be applied.

I hope those answers provide some kind of help. Your question do make sense but are so tied to matter of design and the game as you designed and made it so far, it is hard to provide more concrete answers without knowing either.