Chocolate Neopets – There's Nothing Sweeter

Part 1: Chocolate Pets

There are currently 14 neopet species come in chocolate: Aisha, Bori, Chia, Cybunny, Kacheek, Korbat, Meerca, Ogrin, Pteri, Ruki, Scorchio, Skeith, Usul, and Xweetok. If you want to see what they all look like, mosey on over to the Rainbow Pool in Neopia Central and click on “all neopet colors”. Also, keep an eye on the “New Features” page, especially around pet days and the day of the chocolate ball (the 15th of Gathering) to see if TNT has released any new chocolate species (chocolate Aishas were released on the 3rd of Sleeping this year – thanks, TNT!).

Part 2: Getting a Chocolate Pet

Bad news, there is no 100% guaranteed way to get a chocolate pet; there is no chocolate paint brush, nor are there any morphing potions that can make your pet chocolate. Chocolate is one of the colors that are known as lab/fountain faerie quest only – this means that only the secret lab ray and the fountain faerie are capable of painting a pet chocolate.

Who is the fountain faerie, you ask? The fountain faerie is the lovely water faerie that maintains the Rainbow Fountain in Faerieland. If you are very, very lucky, she will give you a quest (note that getting a quest is completely random; there is, sadly, no way to increase your chances of getting one). If you complete the quest, she will allow you to bring one of your pets to the Rainbow Fountain and paint it the color of your choice (including chocolate, yay!). Unfortunately, fountain faerie quests are so rare that some players have played for years and never been granted one; if you’d like to try something other than wait (and wait, and wait) for a fountain quest, you can choose to roll the dice with a Flask of Rainbow Fountain Water.

The Flask of Rainbow Fountain Water is an item that is occasionally dredged up by pets who have gone to the Underwater Fishing Cavern; this is a very rare event, however, so don’t count on your pet being one of these lucky fishermen. You will probably have to go to the Trading Post if you want to obtain a flask, and they currently cost around a million neopoints; furthermore, each flask can only be used once. The flask, when given to your pet, randomly changes its color to one of the colors available at the Rainbow Fountain; this means that chocolate is possible, but so are many other colors. Statistically, a single Flask of Rainbow Fountain Water is four times more likely to turn you pet a basic color than it is to turn it chocolate! If you don’t like those odds, you can do what I did, and get access to the secret laboratory ray.

The Secret Laboratory is a hidden place where a Scorchio scientist of, um, questionable credentials will zap one of your pets once a day with his experimental ray gun. This ray can change many things about your pet, including species, gender, Battledome statistics, and, of course, color. To gain access to the lab, you must assemble all nine pieces of the secret laboratory map, which can cost upwards of 800,000 neopoints altogether (please note that the pieces disappear when you assemble them, so you cannot resell them later, even if you no longer wish to use the ray).

Once you have access to the lab, it’s time to zap your pet and cross your fingers. Like the Flask of Rainbow Fountain Water, the ray is random, and there is no guarantee that your pet will be zapped chocolate; however, unlike the flask, access to the lab ray is unlimited, so if you did not get chocolate today, you are free to try again tomorrow (and the next day, and the next day). Unfortunately, because the ray can change species as well as color, you may need to administer multiple morphing potions in the event of species changes (Orayshia had to be morphed back into a Bori four times before the ray changed her color to chocolate). Remember that when the ray changes a pet’s species, it also changes its color to one of the basic colors (red, yellow, green, or blue), so there is no way that your pet can be zapped into a chocolate Usul (for example) if it is not already a Usul; the good news is that 14 species come in chocolate, so if you are not picky about species you may find yourself pleasantly surprised (instead of a chocolate Usul, you could eventually end up with a chocolate Cybunny!).

Finally, this section would not be complete if I did not at least mention the possibility of pet trading. Some people (including myself) are not fans of pet trading and wanted to paint an existing pet chocolate instead of getting a new one; but if you have room on your account and a well-named, painted pet you wouldn’t mind giving up, you may be able to find someone on the pound boards who is willing to trade with you. Keep in mind that if you go this route, you must follow all pet trading rules (you can refer to past Neopian Times articles if you are unclear about any of these rules) or you will risk getting your account frozen. Most importantly, you should NEVER neomail random people asking for their chocolate pets; it’s incredibly rude, and they might even report you for begging or harassment depending on the wording of your message.

Part 3: Chocolate Petpets

Let’s say that you are lucky enough to get a chocolate pet, and now you want a chocolate petpet to go with it – what are your options? There are several petpets that come in chocolate, including candychans, mazzews, meepits, and slorgs. Here’s the bad news: you cannot buy chocolate petpets; there is only one way to get a one, and that is the secret petpet laboratory.

The petpet laboratory works much like the pet laboratory: after you have collected and assembled all nine pieces of the map, you can visit once a day and choose one of your petpets to zap. The lab can change a petpet’s name (this is easily reversible, thank goodness), level, and species and color (unlike the pet lab, these two qualities are often changed at once – for example, the petpet lab can change a red tenna into a chocolate candychan with a single zap). Keep in mind that you must already have access to the pet laboratory in order to assemble the map for the petpet laboratory, and any changes the ray makes to your petpet are lost if the petpet is removed from your pet. Finally, you should never use the ray on an expensive petpet, as it has occasionally been known to make them vanish.

Part 4: Caring for Your Chocolate Pet

Chocolate pets are a joy to own, not only because of their rarity and beauty, but because of their sweetness. Some colors have a reputation of transforming ordinary, good-natured pets into high-maintenance divas, but you will be glad to know that chocolate is not one of them. No need to worry about your pet suddenly spending hours styling their whipped cream or complaining constantly about losing their sprinkles; as long as you take care of the basic needs of your chocolate pet, it should continue to act as sweet as it looks.

Just like any other pet, chocolate pets need to be kept fed and happy. Unhappy pets can randomly change color to blue or red, and if this happens to your chocolate pet, it’s not like you can just go out and buy a paint brush to change it back. The good news is that your pet should continue to enjoy the same foods and toys it always has; does staying in the Cockroach Towers keep your pet full and happy? If it does, this should not change now that he or she is chocolate (personally, I like to keep Orayshia and her roommates at the mountain lodge, but that is just a personal choice).

As long as you care for your pet as well as you always have, there are really only three things you have to worry about now that he or she is chocolate. First, never feed your chocolate pet glowing jelly. Glowing jelly has been known on occasion to change pets’ colors to glowing. This change is permanent, so avoid this food at all costs (your pet is definitely worth shelling out a few extra neopoints for strawberry or lemon jelly, isn’t it?). The other two hazards you need to look out for are Boochi, a pesky Bruce that goes around randomly changing neopets into babies, and a mysterious random event that can make pets invisible. Happily, both of these risks can easily be avoided by not keeping your chocolate pet active. It may seem like a shame that you cannot constantly show off your chocolate pet on the neoboards, but chocolate pets are such sweeties that most of them are happy to let your other pets have the spotlight anyway, even if their colors are not as special or rare.

So that’s about all you need to know about obtaining and caring for chocolate pets; the journey can be a long one, but the rewards are more than worth it. Good luck, and stay sweet!