RESOLVED MY ISSUE!
I ended up … following instructions all over again (LOL).
The issue was on the Pixel Pro earbuds side.
I had to literally follow their instructions (gasp) to pair the ear buds. Open the earbud case (with buds remaining in the case), press the barely visible pairing button on the back of the case; then in bluetooth settings in Settings on my laptop I finally saw the earbuds discovered but not set up. Several attempts clicking there and the ear buds are successfully paired!
Here is a link (I assume the video shows the steps - just scanning it reminded me of my mistake, prompting me to follow instructions. Don’t tell the wife!):
https://www.google.com/search?q=ubuntu+22.04+not+finding+pixel+pro+buds&oq=ubuntu+22.04+not+finding+pixel+pro+buds&aqs=chrome..69i57.7144734j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8