I played a little more Temtem today. Got to the second town on the second island. It's actually not a long trip, but Temtem manages to make it long.
I've realised: the AI isn't trying to win. The AI is just trying to cause the maximum amount of damage to you. The AI never does anything to manage it's stamina. I've had so many hits almost kill a temtem before it unleashes a huge attack that knocks itself out, SOLELY to knock out my own temtem and deprive it of exp.
It's just ball-bustingly slow. It's like the hour-long witness puzzle - I'm not losing time because I'm acting foolish, I'm losing time because I genuinely don't have any other option.
Yeah, I've gotten to the third island now, and I'll give my experience - I've lost a few times, but that's mainly due to a bad type match up and due to a lack of preparation. You're not wrong about the AI powering through, the only time when they'll rest is when they have to - A little word to the warning though when you get to the third Dojo though.
They pull a very step level jump for some of the tamers there, which I think is really bullshit.
Up until this point of the game, you'll be facing Temtem that are around level 30-35, but there are a couple of groups of tamers that jump to level 45. And what's even worse is that you'll be unable to properly grind much since you won't be able to buy items when you get to the main town on the island. Not even the Dojo leader has a Temtem at that level.
Hell, you won't be able to get any more Tem cards until you beat the dojo, so, I'd suggest stocking up on Tem cards (You'll lose your items, but that'll be temporary)
Also, when you get to the volcano, and beat the scientist, DO NOT FORGET TO OBSERVE THE CAGE THAT HAS THE TEMTEM in it. Seriously, I've seen a few people miss it, and miss that it was actually a temtem that you get.
And that's actually something I wanna point out - You're given free temtem a bit too often. Third Dojo, you get a pretty good Deendre, then when you get your party taken away in the third island, you get the following Temtem:
Nessla, Loali, Vulcrane, and Valash. And you get to keep them after you get your team back.
Like, I'm not against the idea of getting gift Temtem, but it seems a bit off to me to have that happen so quickly and so close together. Much like getting your starter in X and Y, and then getting the Torchic.