Asche: “Or- well, I’ve never seen a Lapras in person in the first place, just some pictures of them from my friend’s trainer Pokédex-”
“And you do look quite different!”
“Hehe, of course we can be friends! Mom used to say that you don’t need an excuse to make one, but having things in common sure helps! Oh- are you new in this ‘making friends’ thing like me?”
Asche: “Though it was something like... uh, like ‘pick someone you know that is not as much of a jerk as everyone else and stick with that son of a Ditto for as long as they’re useful’ ...o something along those lines”
“... Uh- yeah, eh- mom wasn’t exactly an expert in friendship things either...”
“B-Better not follow that advice, I guess”