I am a new PSP owner and haven't played that game yet. Sorry can't be of more help but, check out gamefaqs.com and see if they have a walk through up to help you get by this boss battle hang up.
Is that where you're fighting Tony and Renee with that stupid mana for the first time? Kill Renee first, then her mana, then Tony. I think Renee heals so it's best to kill healers first, but you could probably kill her mana first since that does a ton of damage if you don't take it out. Definitely use everyone but Pamela, because she sucks. Be sure to synthesize just about everything that you can and maximize their strongpoints. Don't put attack on a healer, or magic on a physical attacker, that sort of thing.
And when all else fails just Alchemy lots or Power level that got me through most of the game with out problems(actually all rpg's)
You can't power level in this game though. The only way to get stronger is to do certain alchemy recipes that'll open up new sections in a character's Grow Book so they can boost stats and the recipe you need to make won't always have all of the ingredients available or you just might not have the recipe at the time.
It seems like they purposely won't let you learn a specific recipe until after an event and of course, 3 chained recipes that you already have are sitting there waiting to be unlocked. I guess this is their way of limiting your level for that chapter. (Like when they bottleneck you on Ability Spheres or Level 1 Key Spheres for FFX) I have over 40k AP on Vayne because I think I'm missing a few key recipes. If you have bombs that attack all enemies, now's the time to spam those. EDIT: Use every form of time cards that you have, Ice Rain, Thunder Rain, Flay's 30 SP ability, etc. and heal using Healing alpha or beta. If Jess is a little on the low side of SP, then use alpha. I hardly ever use the attack command, I either use a Time effect, or heal, or use boost to boost up everyone, then by that time, I have a limit break going.
