I found a Drannik Drone XXII on my battle tab, and waited overnight for it to cycle out so I can get another Zolazin. it did not, so I clicked on it to see why. The timer only started after I clicked on it. please make it so the timer starts right away.

NPC timers start when they spawn, not when clicked. A re-spawn will occur when you visit the Battle page and there is a slot to fill.

It is possible that the NPC was replaced by the same type. Then when you went to the screen and spawned the NPC it would appear that the timer had restarted.