Eh... nowhere does it actually show you doing only 25 damage...

What is shown is that they will slaughter you unless you kill them first, which is perfectly reasonable for speed trial. The fact that we used to be able to face tank them and then kill them is what's not correct, as it cir*vent the actual criteria being tested. (by extension, able to kill the defense trial enemies was silly too)

On a side note, it is possible that they are made to be incredibly resistant to mystery damage so that you can't "cheat" by using a mystery and have to actually hit them via superior speed to beat them. That might be the cause of the 25 damage.

Mind you, I'm not saying there is no problem, I'm saying you are not providing the correct proof.

I can't see it now since I'm lone done, but I think it was recommended init for that one, and not power?

But given that you are dealing scratch damage... yeah, I dunno how it can be possible... So the last logical explanation (that is to say that it's as intended) is that somehow init is used to calculate damage.

You are not exactly expected to complete all of the training at the level you unlock it. In theory, it's designed to be completed as you level up, each stage being harder than the previous, and should be complete once you are 85 or 90 or something like that.

One thing to note is that the initial trial measures your stat to allow you to skip the easy levels. So you are tossed directly into levels that would be challenging for you instead of boringly grind through the levels you could have beaten easily.

But yes, the defense is a thing, unless there is some mechanic in place to prevent you from dealing significant damage if you have insufficient init. I don't see that as likely but it could be a thing. We really need to wait and see if anyone can beat it and how they beat it before knowing for sure.

On a side note, are they immune to debuff? If not, would poison and ignition deal more damage somehow?