EP243

Same Old Song and Dance (Japanese: ふたごのププリンＶＳプリン！うたうポケモンコンサート！ Twins VS ! Singing Pokémon Concert!) is the 243rd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 11, 2002, and in the United States on April 19, 2003.
==Blurb==
In the midst of their travels, Ash and friends meet up with a young girl who, along with her two Igglybuff assistants, stars in her own musical variety television program. Our heroes are content to sit back and enjoy the show, but unfortunately Team Rocket has other plans in mind. Unable to steal the show, Jessie and James content themselves by stealing the young girl's Pokémon instead. As Ash and friends run to her assistance, Jigglypuff shows up, disgruntled at having been left out of the show.
==Plot==
 and are travelling through a forest en route to Blackthorn City. As Ash gets hungry, reads his guidebook and announces there is a town up ahead. This invigorates Ash and he starts running ahead. Unbeknownst to Ash and the others, appears behind them. When they reach the town, runs off and meets a young girl named , who is practicing with her twin . Brittany introduces her two Igglybuff, nicknamed Gigglybiff and Gigglybuff, and explains that they star in her own musical variety television program called "Brittany"; it is her very first concert, which will be recorded live. She plays her CD player to begin a practice performance, with Ash and the others watching on. Meanwhile, spies on them, and Jessie daydreams of having her own show with the Igglybuff.
 suddenly shows up and begins to sing, but Ash snatches its microphone and stashes it in his backpack. Brock offers Jigglypuff some Pokémon food, which it gratefully enjoys. Brittany invites Ash and his friends to lunch. Upon hearing the compliments the two Igglybuff received, Jigglypuff becomes jealous of them, so she bullies them when Ash and the others aren't looking, kicking them and taking their identical headbands off. When stumbles upon this, Jigglypuff claims the wind blew them away. After placing the headbands back, Jigglypuff nudges Misty's leg and is also invited to Brittany's concert.
Later, as Ash, his friends, and Jigglypuff watch Brittany's live performance, Jigglypuff remembers its microphone and retrieves it from Ash's backpack. Just as Jigglypuff begins singing, she is disturbed by Team Rocket's arrival, which causes the stadium to shake. The trio appears in costumes and begins to perform a song-and-dance routine, though the audience hates it. When Ash and his friends make their way on to the stage to confront them, the trio recites their . Then, James sends out , while Ash calls out . Victreebel uses , but Phanpy dodges the attack and successfully uses . Meanwhile, Misty calls out , and Jessie sends out . Jigglypuff suddenly tries to use , but Wobbuffet uses and reflects the attack, sending Jigglypuff flying. Poliwhirl and Phanpy use and , respectively, but this is met with more Counter attacks. uses to distract Ash and the others while they take Brittany's Igglybuff, though they accidentally take Jigglypuff as well. Vowing to save the Igglybuff, Ash, Misty, and Brittany head off, while Brock remains to be a replacement act.
As Team Rocket discusses what the future could look like with the two Igglybuff now captured, Jessie unties the bag and finds Jigglypuff inside as well. Ash and the others arrive, only to find Jigglypuff tied to a tree and its mouth taped over with no Team Rocket or Igglybuff in sight. As they free Jigglypuff, encounters the Team Rocket's Meowth balloon and punctures a hole in it, causing it to crash. Ash and the others find Team Rocket and battle them; fights Victreebel, while fights . Eventually, Arbok is sent flying into Jessie, and she lets go of the bag with the two Igglybuff inside. Meowth corners the two pink Pokémon as they emerge, but Corsola tackles Meowth, allowing the two Igglybuff to run over to Brittany. Brittany calls on her two Pokémon to attack Arbok and Victreebel, first with , then with . Jigglypuff enters the battle, using Double Slap on Team Rocket's Pokémon. Ash finally has Pikachu blast Team Rocket off with Thunderbolt.
When Ash, Misty, and Brittany return to the concert theater, Brock happily allows Brittany to take over the show. When the performance is over, Jigglypuff rises from a stage platform to perform its own rendition to the crowd. Not unexpectedly, her singing causes everyone, including Brittany and her two Igglybuff, to fall asleep, and she scribbles on all of their faces.
==Major events==
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
=====Main series debuts=====
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* 
* Audience
* Brittany's fans
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; )
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ('s; ×2, Gigglybiff and Gigglybuff)
* ()
==Trivia==
* The songs featured in this episode are instrumental versions of Aim to Be a Pokémon Master, Summer Vacation Fan Club, Mama's Dear Pokémon, Team Rocket Forever, and Takeshi's Paradise, the latter of which marks its vocal debut in the English dub.
* The episode's English dub title is derived from from .
* This episode marks the first time that the narrator is affected by 's song. This would happen again in a later episode, where he is affected by the song of Lisa Mitchum's .
* In their performance of Team Rocket Forever, which returns after previous appearances in The Song of Jigglypuff and Go West Young Meowth, Jessie and James sing "We're tired of our motto so we thought we'd try a song!", but the ends up being recited anyway.
* Team Rocket breaks the fourth wall by singing that they plan "to be the stars of this cartoon".
* When Jigglypuff goes through 's bag, it finds the handkerchief that Misty would give to right before they say their goodbyes.
* Music from The Power of One is used in this episode.
* This episode is featured with the VCD/DVD set of Camp Pikachu.
* In the Japanese version, Jessie saying "Evening Three Musumue" is a reference to the famous Japanese girl group, called "".
** Furthermore, when Team Rocket first appears at the concert hall, each member is wearing a costume, which the group Morning Musume once wore when performing a song of theirs. James wears a sailor outfit, a reference to their song , wears an outfit that is similar to the ones worn in the subgroup of Morning Musume, known as "", and Jessie wears an outfit that was common in another subgroup called "" during their song .
* Soon after Team Rocket is shown spying on Ash and watching 's performance with her Gigglybiff and Gigglybuff, Jessie gets angry at James and does the same "Ain" pose, made famous by the Japanese actor and comedian .
===Errors===
* During Brittany's first onstage performance, before Jigglypuff goes to retrieve its microphone, the Igglybuff twins are missing from their pedestals.
* When Misty instructs to use , she pulls out a , as if she were about to send out another Pokémon.
* When Jessie tells Wobbuffet to use to deflect Poliwhirl's Water Gun, the glove on her left hand disappears.
** Additionally, Counter is effective against Water Gun, despite being a special attack. The correct would be .
* When James sends out , its mouth does not move when speaking.
* After Weezing uses and Team Rocket escapes, Jigglypuff is seen behind Brittany. However Jigglypuff was taken by Team Rocket by mistake and is in their bag at the same time. This may have been a confusion from the previous scene, where Jigglypuff hid behind Brittany.
* When Misty throws 's Poké Ball, it is shown as a regular Poké Ball instead of a Lure Ball.
EP243 error 2.png|Jessie's missing glove
EP243 error.png|The additional Jigglypuff
EP243 error 3.png|Corsola's Poké Ball
===Dub edits===
* In the streaming dub version of this episode, after jumps out of Misty's arms at the beginning, it is shown running through a hedge and emerging on the other side. In the home video dub version, a few seconds of this sequence are cut, resulting in Togepi being seen running toward the hedge and then immediately appearing on the other side in the next shot.
==In other languages==
243
Category:Episodes focusing on Jigglypuff
Category:Episodes written by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes animated by Masaaki Iwane
Category:Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
de:Das alte Lied...
es:EP245
fr:EP243
it:OA127
ja:無印編第243話
zh:宝可梦 第244集