Turning Goku into a kid was BS from the start, really.
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!They couldn't use Goten because then he wouldn't be Goku.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Fuck it, just use Pan. Have Goku all set to go on this space-trip to get back the Dragon Balls because Pilaf used them for something and then Pan's just like "Stealin' yo rocket!" and flies off with Goten and Trunks and grumpy old man Piccolo.
And Bra and Uub I guess.
My various fanfics.It is exceedingly easy to make a Next Generation team to go into space.
Uub, Goten, Trunks, Pan and Bra. You've got the original hero's disciple and the hero and his rival's descendants. You can even throw in Piccolo as a mentor and trainer, going along with them as a favor to Gohan so he can look after his kid. You can even justify Goku deciding not to accompany them by having Goku justify it to the others by saying something like it being a good test for Uub 'n shit.
You can even have Uub still be the main hero without writing off Gotenks entirely. Just have Goten and Trunks be so out of practice that they can't go SSJ 3 anymore and boom, they're now significantly weaker than what Uub should be.
And as for Pan and Bra... yeah, they're young, but Pan clearly had an interest in martial arts in the epilogue, and Bra could easily be written as a daddy's girl who wants her father to be proud of her and as such chooses the path of the fighter, which means she can easily be written as having trained enough to actually be a competent fighter.
And it's not like Pan and Bra couldn't learn how to fuse, themselves, so even in the case of Gotenks and Uub tier enemies, they still don't need to be obsoleted by the plot.
edited 11th Nov '15 2:40:05 PM by IAmNotCreativeEnough
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariHell, you could have it so that Trunks and Goten can't fuse anymore because Trunks is out of practice because he's being groomed to run Capsule Corp. He hasn't had time to train and Goten's still training a lot with his dad, so he's gotten stronger while Trunks has gotten weaker.
Trunks could be the tech guy.
My various fanfics.I would do it the other way, with Goten slacking in his training because he wanted to pursue other interests after becoming a teenager. He's what Kame-senning put so much effort into keeping Goku from becoming: he reached a point where he was better than nearly everyone else in existence and one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe at such an early age that he didn't feel any real compulsion to keep trying.
Trunks, on the other hand, is Vegeta's son. He doesn't have the luxury of falling behind and, unlike Goten, his father is always around to push him and train him rather than flying off to go train some kid he met at a tournament.
I like the suggestion of Bra as the techie taking ofter her mom. Goten could be the diplomat. The people person.
edited 11th Nov '15 2:51:42 PM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Nothing says Bra couldn't both fight and be the tech nerd at the same time.
But yeah, I'm more fond of the idea of Trunks falling behind because he's now more of a tech nerd than a fighter, Goten slacking off because Goku's children are his greatest shame and the girls being the real next generation of Goku and Vegeta.
Just to stick it to the casual sexism that permeates manga.
As for why Vegeta didn't force Trunks to train: Bra was actually willing to train, so he focused on her. Also gives you an in for a subplot where Trunks has Daddy Issues and problems with Bra because she's clearly their father's favorite.
Goten has the same 'issues' to angst about, but he don't care, because Goten is Goten, and Goten don't give a fuck.
edited 11th Nov '15 3:03:56 PM by IAmNotCreativeEnough
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariBecause robot parts aren't hereditary.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.'Cause unlike the others, she's a perfectly normal human with no great potential to speak of.
Yes, she's the daughter of the strongest human of all time and the strongest woman on Earth, but she's not an android like her mother and even if she inherited all of Krillin's strength... she's still well below the Saiyans' base strength, and that's just 1% of those Saiyans' potential strength, possibly 0.25% if they achieve SSJ 3, even less accounting for fusion.
At best you could have her be the team's nurse.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimariI do like the idea of Marron being along to represent what humans who are not reincarnated from an eldritch horror can do - Uub barely qualifies as a representative of humans - but I'm just not sure how you would make her useful.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.I prefer the idea of Bra being a fighter and Trunks the tech-girlguy. I'd like it better if they averted Generation Xerox to an extent.
edited 11th Nov '15 3:11:09 PM by 32ndfreeze
No, even before fusing with Mr. Buu, he's still the reincarnation of Pure Buu. The only reason Uub has any power to speak of is because he's Pure Buu reborn from Goku's plea.
He is less of an example of humanity's potential than even the Androids are because at least their technology was made with human hands. Uub is human In Name Only.
edited 11th Nov '15 3:15:52 PM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Just because his soul is strong doesn't make him not Human. He still grew up in the Dragon Earth's version of India, he's still 100% Human genetically, he still doesn't have the same Buu powers or regeneration Buu does. Uub is completely Human, just with a strong soul.
edited 11th Nov '15 3:21:01 PM by PushoverMediaCritic

It was stupid to have him turn back into a kid, but that's honestly the least idiotic thing about GT.
The most idiotic being GT having so many good plot opportunities and fucking them up. A Tuffle bio-weapon, the return of Dr. Gero and Android 17, some negative karma for using the Dragon Balls so many damn times, Omega Shenron, grown up Trunks and Goten, Pan, Marron, and Bra now being older, et friggin' cetera.
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?