Ruling Primal Groudon EX - Ancient Trait Omega Barrier

[pokes]

I'm new to Pokémon TCG, and I have a question about the Ancient Trait Omega Barrier on the Primal Groudon.
The trait says:

"Whenever your opponent plays a Trainer card (excluding Pokémon Tools and Stadium cards) prevent all effects of that card done to this Pokémon."

I understand that Trainer cards that directly effect the Primal Groudon, like a Trainer card that causes the Primal Groudon to be sleeping or poison, wouldn't work. But I'm confused on what other Trainer effects are prevented.

In a game I was playing, my opponent told me that I couldn't use cards that switch my opponent's attacking Primal Groudon with a benched Pokémon. For example, Trainer cards like Lysandre, Escape Rope, and Pokémon Catcher wouldn't work because it directly impacts the Primal Groudon. I understand that reasoning, but was unsure if that was the rule.

On that note, what about cards like Team Flare Grunt, Xerosic, or Enchanted Hammer? These card remove energy cards or tool cards that are attached to the Primal Groudon. Are the effects of these cards also impacted by the Omega Barrier trait? My understanding is that these cards should work since the effect isn't done to the directly to the Primal Groudon, but to separately attached cards.

Any help would be great. Thanks!

 

[Asclepius24]

Omega Barrier can be tricky! An easy way to think of it is that it blocks effects of Trainer cards where your opponent has to point to Primal Groudon in order to figure out what the card does. That doesn't always work (e.g. Escape Rope, covered below), but it's a god place to start.

Hammers, Flare Grunt, and Xerosic all target Primal Groudon and are blocked, just like Hypnotoxic Laser.

Lysandre depends on where Groudon is because it targets the Benched Pokemon. If Groudon is Active and you play Lysandre, you can pull a non-Omega Barrier Pokemon into the Active spot and Groudon goes to the bench incidentally. You can't, however, target a benched Primal Groudon and pull it up. The same logic applies to Pokemon Catcher.

Escape Rope works the other way, since instead of pulling up a Benched Pokemon it effectively "pushes" the Active Pokemon to the bench. If your opponent's Primal Groudon is Active and you play Escape Rope, it doesn't go anywhere; you still get to switch your Pokemon, though. If some other Pokemon is Active on your opponent's side of the field when you play Escape Rope and "push" it to the Bench, your opponent can choose to promote Primal Groudon because they're incidentally filling the empty Active slot.

Let me know if I missed anything or if something still doesn't make sense!