How Not to Attach the Pebble: A Guide from Experience

     His small smile instantly charmed Neopia. I even hear the Snowager cracked open an eye to see what all the fuss was about before sneaking a few into his hoard for safekeeping.

     The Pebble is a Petpetpet. For those who don’t know, Petpetpets like to attach themselves to a Petpet they trust to take care of them. How do you get the Pebble to attach? Well, I’m glad you asked. Because I can tell you from experience, what not to do (and what eventually worked) to make your little guy comfortable enough to join you on your adventures.

     The Lab Ray

     Our first stop after the Advent Calendar was the lab ray, which in hindsight might not have been the best introduction to Neopia. Arabica Bean the Wocky desperately wants to become burlap to match her favourite coffee bags so we make sure to swing by every day. Even though Arabica knows what’s coming, the lab ray is still pretty scary. To help calm her nerves, she chatted away to the Pebble about how cool the lab ray was. When it was time to zap, the Pebble excitedly peaked out only to catch a blinding flash of light as he narrowly missed being zapped himself! Needless to say, he was pretty shaken up and did not feel a bit like getting to know the Petpets nearby.

     —

     If you, dear reader, have access to the secret laboratory ray, I suggest you tuck your Pebble into your safety deposit box well before any stray zaps can scare him.

     The Magma Pool

     After the lab ray, we wanted to show the Pebble that just because something looks scary doesn’t mean it is. We headed to Moltara for our friend Bitternut Hickory the Yurble to fulfill his dream of becoming magma. He’d been staking out the pool to see when the guards would fall asleep. In true month of celebrating fashion, he finally caught them snoozing on the job. We all crept up as silently as we could as Bitternut dashed out, cannonballing into the roiling magma.

     The Pebble gasped. We tried to reassure him that everything was fine, but even as Bitternut came out, looking dashing in his new magma color, it was too much for the little Pebble.

     —

     The Magma Pool is an equally bad idea. The magma slowly liquifying surrounding rocks probably doesn’t help matters, from a Pebble’s perspective.

     Grave Danger

     Admittedly there are quite a few scary experiences in Neopia for a little Pebble. One of the things that makes Neopia special though is that we all get to adventure together. Our group decided that maybe if the Pebble went somewhere with a Petpet, he’d have someone who could comfort him when things were too much.

     Lion Mane the Liobits is over 100,000 hours old and volunteered to take the Pebble through Grave Danger. The Pebble bravely rolled by Lion Mane’s side into the catacombs while the rest of us held our breath. It started out well, the intrepid duo found a peanut, danced to some sweet jazz music, and got front row seats to a banjo duel. But soon enough Lion Mane nearly got eaten by a Gelatinous Non-Cube and chased by a fire-breathing dragon. The Pebble rolled into a small corner, shaking until Lion Mane was able to double back and carry him out. Another failed attempt at helping our Pebble find his place.

     —

     While you may think adventure will bond your Pebble to a Petpet, you would be wrong. It turns out some pretty scary stuff goes down in the catacombs of Grave Danger.

     Wheel of Monotony

     We all agreed, no more big adventures until the Pebble had a chance to settle down. We sat to brainstorm the calmest activity we could possibly think of. After a few minutes Sfumato Impasto the oil paint Tuskaninny quietly suggested the wheel of monotony. That was perfect! The wheel’s entire existence was based on being monotonous. It would also give us time to actually get to know the personality behind the Pebble’s smile.

     We knew we were in for a long wait, so we packed up some snacks and a cozy picnic blanket to to while away the click-click-click of the wheel. The Pebble warmed up under the Tyrannian sun and seemed to relax in his own pebbly way.

     We were happily chatting away when I noticed Sfumato staring at the wheel with a look of horror. I turned around and watched the wheel start to slow, getting closer and closer to the space for the Lair of the Beast. We quickly grabbed the Pebble and tucked him away in a pocket as the wheel stopped and the Quiggle pointed us to the cave. We tried not to go too far in, but the Pterodactyl must have smelled our fear as it swooped out with a mighty roar.

     The poor Pebble, it seemed like nowhere would be safe.

     —

     It’s important to remember that the Wheel of Monotony, while typically excruciatingly boring, has a slim chance of being spine tingling terrifying. Do not bring your Pebble here.

     Grumpy Old King

     As an apology for the frightful and not at all monotonous wheel experience, we made our way to Meridell to cheer everyone up with some jokes for King Skarl. As we waited in line the Pebble got to see Neopians, Petpets and Petpetpets of all shapes and sizes. Laughter filled the air as everyone workshopped what joke they were going to tell. The castle itself was all decked out in lights for the upcoming Day of Giving and the stones sparkled in reflection. The Pebble’s eyes were wide as he took in the joy all around him.

     We shuffled up to the front and Mixolydian Hiss, the Hissi (and coolest Neopet we know) smoothly hissed out our go-to joke while we waited anxiously to see what the king thought.

     “That was the worst joke ever!” King Skarl screamed. “Leave my kingdom now!” We ran out of the castle to the sound of his angry growl.

     —

     King Skarl is just a grumpy old king. While the atmosphere in the castle is nice, it’s not worth exposing your Pebble to such negativity as being yelled at by royalty.

     Holiday Shopping & Discarded Magical Blue Grundo Plushie

     That was it, no more activities for us, they all seemed to go sideways. The last thing we needed to do before heading home was to finish up some holiday shopping. We went up to Faerieland, staying far away from the Wheel of Excitement, the Faerie Caverns, and Jhudora’s Bluff for the sake of the Pebble. Despite our best intentions, we heard a strange whistle in the sky.

     “Watch out!!” A Fire Faerie shoved us out of the way as a cloud from old Faerieland crashed to the ground.

     It was very kind of her to watch out for us, but the cloud was harmless. At most we would’ve gotten a little damp from the wispy mist. While we were sorting ourselves out Dread Pirate Pinata, our friend the toy Gnorbu, let out a surprised shout.

     ”The Pebble, he’s gone!”

     We frantically retraced our steps feeling like we’d failed the little guy. Eventually we regrouped at the Discarded Magical Blue Grundo Plushie of Prosperity and sat in the grass feeling guilty and exhausted.

     “Maybe we pushed him too fast.” AdAstra Aspera the dimensional Gelert said thoughtfully. “We wanted him to join us so badly we didn’t ask him what he wanted.”

     Monkey the red Zafara chimed in, “It’s the Month of Celebrating and almost the Day of Giving. Maybe what makes a good gift, and a good friend, is giving someone what makes them happy, not what makes us happy. I wish the Pebble was still here so we could find out what he likes to do best.”

     The Discarded Magical Blue Grundo Plushie of Prosperity red eyes seemed to stare knowingly. He swayed in the wind which happened to nudge out none other than our Pebble friend.

     The Pebble’s eyes looked hopeful as he rolled towards us and smiled his cute little smile.

     “C’mon Pebble,” Monkey said, let’s find out what you like to do best.

     —

     Remember, random events can strike at any time. Your Pebble will at best get scared and at worst, could be stolen by someone frightful! Not a good idea to bring him along shopping.

     Home Sweet Home & Inventory

     We all went home and sat cozy by the fireplace. The Pebble was nestled up to a hot cup of Borovan and snuggled next to our resident introvert, Kauthmulhu the Mutant Kau. As the Pebble sat at home with the rest of our inventory and our little found family, something magical happened. He rolled on over to Kauthmulhu’s Petpet Tencals and happily attached, knowing that he could hear about all the group’s exciting adventures from the comfort of home. And when he felt ready, he had tons of friends who would bring him along and show him the way.

     ---

     So there you have it. Sometimes we’re so excited to have a new friend to adventure with that we don’t stop to think about what they might want. My Pebble was a shy little guy and liked sitting in my inventory with my inactive pets best. It takes a little patience and a lot of thoughtfulness to include everyone so we can all celebrate together in our own special ways. Happy Holidays!