I always much preferred the battle system in Chrono Trigger over Final Fantasy, especially encountering enemies: being able to see the enemies first not only made for richer environments, but is also took away much of the annoyance of random battles.
That said, battles do happen and when you get into one, you need to know what to do! Let’s check out the menu options:
Battle Dialog:
逃跑成功 (táopǎo chénggōng) = Escaped!
不能逃跑 (bùnéng táopǎo) = Can’t escape!
[Character]站起來了 (zhànqǐlai le) = [Character] got back up!
目標 (mùbiāo) = target
Battle Commands:
戰鬥 (zhàndòu) = Attack
技能 (jìnéng) = Tech
連攜 (liánxié) = Combo
道具 (dàojù) = Item
逃跑 (táopǎo) = Escape
１人技 (yīrénjì) = Single Tech
２人技 (liǎngrénjì) = Dual Tech
３人技 (sānrénjì) = Triple Tech
Status Ailments:
毒 (dú) = Poison
緩速 (huǎnsù) = Slow
睡眠 (shuìmián) = Sleep
混亂 (hùnluàn) = Confuse
失明 (shīmíng) = Blind
遺忘 (yíwàng) = Lock
時間停止 (shíjiān tíngzhǐ) = Stop
沉睡 (chénshuì) = Sap
完全遺忘 (wánquán yíwàng) = Omnilock
守封 (shǒufēng) = Curse
無法戰鬥 (wúfǎ zhàndòu) = KO
Status Enhancements
加速 (jiāsù) = Haste
護盾 (hùdùn) = Protect
護罩 (hùzhào) = Barrier
重生 (chóngshēng) = Reraise
狂戰士 (kuángzhànshì) = Berserk
The spoils of battle:
到手了！ (dàoshǒu le) = Obtained!
技能點數 (jìnéng diǎnshù) = TP (Tech Points)
金錢 (jīnqián) = Money; G
[Character]的等級上升了！ (de děngjí shàngshēng le) = [Character]‘s level increased!
[Character]將[tech name]學會了！(jiāng xuéhuì le) = [Character] learned [tech name]
獲得了[number]經驗值 (huòdé le jīngyàn zhí) = Earned [number] EXP.
獲得了[number]技能點數 (huòdé le jìnéng diǎnshù) = Earned [number] TP.
獲得了[number]Ｇ (huòdé le G) = Found [number] G.
獲得了[item] (huòdé le) = Obtained [item]
[Character]的等級上升了！ (de děngjí shàngshēng le) = [Character]‘s level increased!
[Character]學會了[tech name]！ (xuéhuì le) = [Character] learned [tech name]!
[Character]學會了２人技 [tech name]！ (xuéhuì le liǎngrénjì) = [Character] learned [tech name] dual tech!
[Character]學會了３人技 [tech name]！ (xuéhuì le sānrénjì) = [Character] learned [tech name] triple tech!
This should get you safely any battle in the game!