>>30979108I really believe if trade evolutions were never a thing, that Golem would have been my favourite pokemon. The first episode I saw of the anime was the one where Team Rocket fights a biker gang on a bridge who have a Golem and I though it was just the coolest thing, especially when I saw that Geodude (who I also like) was its first form. It would have been one of the first team members and it would have been pretty solid playing through Red aside from the obvious grass/water weakness, as it'd tank all the normal attacks that get spammed and ground and fighting weren't all that common attackwise back then. It could have been my ace, and that first, definitive playthrough could have really cemented its place in my heart. Especially as it shows up in so many other games, so that I could use my bro over and over as the backbone of my teams.
But I hated the idea of being stuck with a second stage for the rest of the game and instead Golem is just a pokemon I sometimes use in lower tier Showdown matches. What could have been.
