Well the show and books are different this can be mostly explained by it being a later rotation of the wheel. This means that the magic system should work the same way. This quote is also very helpful as this is a common misconception on how balefire works.

I would recommend you look at the meta before making claims on what is good. Garchomp is mediocre due to Hitmonlee being a better option for bench damage due to the much lower commitment and 100 damage for 3 energy on a stage 2 is outclassed by things like Gallade who routinely hits for 110 or 130 for 2 energy. You also say Hitmonlee is underrated well rating him at 9th. Hitmonlee is one of the most popular and played fighting types as he is in the best fighting type decks being Gallade ex Hitmonlee. This deck has a 6% usage rate and has won and played at multiple tournaments with the biggest wins being 1st of 252. In addition you failed to even mention the cards in the second best fighting deck which is base Lucario and Rampardos. Lucario (not Lucario ex) can increase damage and Rampardos hits for 130 for one energy. Both of these decks have been in the meta for over a month and Garchomp ex has never been as good as either of them.