It's possible to use Android as bundled with a Pixel device without a Google account, but it's a hassle because you can't use Play Store. You can use Aurora Store as an anonymous client, F-Droid for open source apps, APKs from download sites, or the like if you're so inclined, but all of those add significant effort or unreliability.
I’m actually using Aurora and F-Droid. The only reason I have a Google account on my phone is for the Wallet (though it doesn’t work for me anyway :’)
(And to be honest, things were working much smoother for me when I was on microG [0].)
[0]: https://microg.org/