Nobody is gonna agree with me, but... xD
To avoid problems searching for emulators, stick to the Gen I, II and III. Try to play as many games as possible! It would be fun if you could work up your progress by advancing through the generations, starting on the first one.
However, not everybody has time and patient for that, so you could start on the Gen II, because the first one doesn't have much freedom and options, and it's only "amazing" because people have nostalgia. Also, there are remakes already, so you don't need to play every single game. Try the Crystal version first, it's better than Gold/Silver and it's basicly the same. (If you want to play Gen I, try Yellow, since it has all the starters and Pikachu).
Then go to Gen III. Pick Ruby or Sapphire, to understand the new mechanics (like Natures) then Firered of Leafgreen. And then try Emerald! One of the best versions, in my opinion :3
I wouldn't recommend hack roms before the originals because not all of them are complete like an original game. Nintendo games follow a classic way of progress, everything is simple and in the right place, and there aren't gamebreaking bugs/glitches. Hacks, on the other hand, might have these problems, thus you shouldn't avoid them for now.