You can get your first pokemon before the first gym (trade in Violet City for the Onix, who evolves into Steelix), so per the rules you can't hack anyone in. As for evolving Scyther, GTS doesn't work with emulators, but you can either evolve him by editing him with Pokesav, or by using a Evolution Editor, which you can find pretty easily. Make sure you get one for HG/SS, and you'll need to use it for Steelix, too, hehe. I think the steel pokemon available in SS are: Steelix, Magneton/zone, Forretress, Scizor, and Skarmory. so you have more than enough options.
If you have anymore questions, VM or PM me, so we can keep the thread more about updates :).