The build up? Define build up. We just got a two episode battle.
The most notable strategies:
-Leavanny stringshotting Koffing, and using Energy Ball to follow down and directly hit it.
-Pikachu dodging Garbordors arms, and tangeling them up allowing Pikachu to attack.
Don't forget Boldore using Sandstorm to counter Clear Smog, and trying to stop Gyro Ball. Then there's Unfezant who succesfully avoided being burned by Will O' Wisp with Gust or whatever move that was. Those were good strategies as well.
Build-up is Volkner giving his badges away, and Ash having to convince him to battle him. Build-up is Ash arrving to Sootopolis to the marvelous water show put on by Juan. Build-up is Ash almost failing at Blackthorn and then having to take care of the whole dragon business. Build-up is not Ash running into a random gym and start a gym battle.
The flare is Infernape activating blaze and finally gaining control over it. The flare is the unusual battle match-up that put Ash's skill to challenge (start with a double and go on from there). The flare is to have to call up on Charizard to battle in the dragon gym. The flare is not Ash having to use all six pokemon to barely beat the gym leader's three.
All these gym battle really showed how much Ash had grown throughout his journey and that he was ready for the league. Tell me how does that say that about this gym....
If you count Juan's watershow as build up, then the 'multiple pokemon from multiple trainers getting hospitalized, and a Gothitelle being KO'd on the spot as Ash enters the gym'-segment that lasted more then half an episode counts as build up as well. Oh, but you count that as 'just starting a gym battle'... Don't forget the whole part where Homika started talking about having caught her Koffing in Kanto while being on tour... And a bandmember actually coming up with the challenge, not Homika.
What the hell is
the flare??? Ash calling on Charizard AND SNORLAX has no flare, and does not show his growth at all. It shows that he ignored training his Johto pokemon. PERIOD.
If Infernape blasting the roof to bits and pieces with a Flamethrower that Ash didn't command and needed to be yelled at is your version of 'finally gaining control', then so be it. Because clearly he didn't smoothly transition into Blaze at any point during it's tenure on the show (like Blaziken, Sceptile and Barry's Empoleon surely did manage), heck even against Paul Infernape felt the need to let the field erupt without Ash's command... There was never full control, just getting over it. When Infernape can transition into Blaze like Empoleon did into Torrent, then I will say that Infernape finally has control over its ability, but as of now, as it still is going batshitcrazy every single time it happens, no. It just gets over the rage at some point, and that is not full control..
I think if anything counts as flare, then it's Homika using a Pokemon that Ash has faced many times, and actually using it to an extremely high degree of proficiency.
- Here's a pokemon that Ash never had trouble with, but here we have this gymleader that is giving him a sweat with the same pokemon!