"How was the Pokémon boom during the 90s like? long-time fans please share me your memories and experiences"

EDIT: So many good reads, Thank you everybody for taking time writing :)Even though I know the series from the anime back in 1999/2000 since it was a hit here, but what got me into the series is last year's Pokémon Go which was enough to make me do a main series marathon to "Play 'em all" and now I'm really interested to know about the 90s Pokémon craze.Sometimes when I see these memes or posts/discussion that involve the 90s craze/Pokémon Boom I feel really curious how it all begun and how it actually was, like I'm kinda jealous that I haven't experienced it because it always sounds fun from what I read/hear.I don't live in a place where Pokémon is popular. Here, Pokémon is mostly known by its anime and PoGo (sadly). So I'm posting here because I'm really interested to know about all of that if anybody has a time to write. And to make it simple I'm gonna list my questions that I'm curious about the most.1- What was the reaction when the games were announced? I believe the games came after the anime in the west. How much impact that made?2- Were the cards really that rare? I heard one of the reasons Pokémon became popular is because of the cards and the rarity of some of them.3- Before the games, was the anime a phenomenal show on TV or it did get the popularity after the games?4- Did Pokémon make cheating devices like GameShark a big thing? Because from what I read and see, like almost everyone was sounded using cheats/glitches in Pokémon back in the day.5- Were people surprised that there was no Green version to represent the grass starter? Also, though it's not 90-ish, but what was the reaction when the remakes were announced for Red/Green instead of Red/Blue? What was the reception of both cases and how much did it affect people views on Bulbasaur? And were Squirtle fans upset that they didn't get WaterBlue (Blue's Remake)?6- What was the reaction when Gold/Silver announced? was it as big as Red/Blue?7- Were there leaks for Gen2 starters like what happened in Gen6/7? and what the reaction if so?8- Considering Gen2 starters are among the least popular in the series now. What was the reaction of the new starters when they were revealed and compared to Gen1 starters (Excitement/Disappointment)?9- Did people play PVP during Red/Blue a lot among each other like now? I feel like the competitive scene didn't really kick off until Gen 3 or 4 when abilities and stat splits happened but not sure.I'd be more than happy to read any story or experiences from you guys like how did Pokémon came to your lives, how much impact did it made in the late 90's, were there many events or conventions about Pokémon and all, basically I want to live that period through your comments.Sorry for the long post and thank you in advance and more importantly sorry for my English. via /r/pokemon http://ift.tt/2rpYXzr