Wild starter encounters?

I came across an article online that claims that encountering wild starter Pokemon is a myth, and is impossible. I need to call that out, and I know it's like 10 generations late, but I Promise you, on Pokemon Gold, I encountered a wild Totodile in the grass at the beginning of the game, and was very upset because I didn't have Pokeballs yet. I had later encountered a Chicorita on Victory Road. I even am pretty sure I found either a Bulbasaur or Charmeleon in the grass in some woods by a lake, I don't remember which, but it ran and I was pissed because nobody believed me. Now, I could easily conclude these were cartridge glitches from heat wear or overplaying, maybe even bad code cache that I unintentionally manipulated, like the old Missing No. glitches. However, I've read maybe 2 or 3 others swear they ran into a starter on Victory Road. Was it supposed to happen? Probably not. However, people can't just write something off as a hoax or a myth if it happened, even if it were just a glitch or malfunction. Anyone else ever meet wild starters in any game?