Battle error: battle won't begin nor show battle char

ummmmm.... that's not quite what I meant. I made it so that it would return the player back to the main map after the battle, not the game over screen, regardless of triumph or not. what it's doing is sort of letting the player "watch" the battle and yet play the battle also. As soon as I start the battle, it exits because the only character there, doesn't appear and it ignores the battle clause entirely(except that it flashes the screen of the battle scene and then goes on with the rest of the clauses. I even tried to do it with the main character(we'll call him Russell) and the "lenny"(even though it's an incorrect situation. it's really more like it's a soldier that the "Russell" is watching) and it worked with the exception that "lenny" never appeared in any shape or form. Not even in the text or that little bar that I believe is called the stamina. it was like "lenny" never existed. I hope that explains the situation a little better. Sorry if I was/am unclear, but I am trying.