Mareep is your shot at the Electric Pokemon that doesn’t play like an Electric Pokemon- it eventually becomes Ampharos, a slow but thoroughly durable Special Attack powerhouse, something more common in Water or Grass types than in Electric Pokemon.  An Ampharos with high investment in physical defense and HP can take pretty much any unboosted Earthquake not from a ludicrous powerhouse like Rhyperior or Attack-Deoxys without falling to the first hit, and when you combine that with its massive Special Attack and access to moves like Charge Beam and Charge, you’ve got a lot of potential here for a very sturdy team member- though it tends to get beaten out later on by Eelectross because of the electric eel’s Levitate.

Azurill is a baby Pokemon, and a Normal-type that develops into the offensively strong Azumarill.  Azumarill is rather fragile, but packs a huge punch thanks to its Huge Power ability.  Still, there are better Water selections out there for stability that can often meet or outstrip Azumarill’s power.  It’s not by any means prohibitive, but you should consider other options as well.

Psyduck is woefully underqualified compared to the Oshawott and Azurill you’ve gotten access to so far- its stats are not all that special, and even as Golduck it remains mediocre, with a disproportionately high number of physical attacks in its movepool for a Pokemon with a more Special-oriented stat spread.  Even with its strongest Special Attack moves, though, Golduck tends to leave something to be desired, which is a shame given its cool design.  It remains somewhat subpar- not unusable, but it will tend to be a weaker link on your team compared to other options.

The last new Pokemon available is a doozy- Riolu.  This evolves into the Fighting/Steel Lucario, a very unusual Pokemon for either of its types with not only good speed but an almost alarmingly high Special Attack stat as well.  Lucario’s also got a very flexible movepool, especially with its selection of rare moves to supplement its movepool, such as Me First.  If you’re looking for a Special Attack monster that’s difficult to damage and has some nice and unusual attacks (like Aura Sphere, a Fighting-type Swift Attack that deals damage based on Special stats) then by all means grab this- Lucario’s generally a boon to almost any team.

The Pokemon in the grass here are also quite good for training, as they vary in level from 4-7, so it should be fairly easy and quick for you to get any and all of your team members up to level 10 or 11.

North of the grassy patch is a fenced-off area.  You can ignore it and go around, but there’s nothing else to do around here right now- the ranch buildings are locked up tight, you can’t surf and have no fishing rod, and there’s really nothing to gain by heading back.  Once you enter the gate of the fenced-off area, Hugh shows up again.