Much as I love dragons and Dragon-types, Heald, they're never going to include one near the beginning of the game because the type is pretty much broken. Granted, if all of the little annoying youngsters at the beginning of the game had access to them as well it would be a step towards equalizing things, but yeah.

And no, Wurz, Houndour was never available early in the game in GSC; it was only ever found near Celadon City, which, of course, is crazy late-game in GSC terms. Growlithe, on the other hand, was definitely made available around the first gym in Crystal.

There's been some speculation that this new thingie might be a "Pikachu form(e)", but most people (myself included) are dismissing that idea as utterly ridiculous. I don't deny that people have been wrong about so-called "utterly ridiculous" ideas before, but really.

PokéBeach now has a slightly better look at something that might be the new Pokémon's ear, btw.