Ruling Trainer lock...

[Lorithilio]

Okay, so this has been bugging me and I've not been able to find any information on it for some reason.

Trainer Lock, such as Vileplume, prevents players from playing Trainer Cards from their hand. Now, from what I understand, this does not effect Supporters or Stadiums. This make sense, because each of the overall "TRAINER" cards has a sub-group: "TRAINER - Trainer," "TRAINER - Supporter," "TRAINER - Stadium," etc. Now, I assume what this means then is that what Trainer Lock actually does is lock out the sub-group of "TRAINER - Trainer."

However, there exists another sub-group, "TRAINER - Pokemon Tool" that whenever I try to play, I get told can't be played because of Trainer Lock. This makes no sense whatsoever.

So, I guess my big question is: How does Trainer Lock work, and does it affect Pokemon Tools?

 

[DNA]

I assume you are talking about the Vileplume UD Trainer Lock. I'll explain to you how it works.

As you know there are Trainers, Supporters, Stadiums, Pokemon Tools, and Technical Machines. Prior to the release of Diamond&Pearl, all of those were considered Trainer cards and they all went under that umbrella. (You can look at Dragonite ex for an example, its first attack prevents the playing of trainer cards, except for Supporters.) Any cards released during that time period mean "Trainer cards" applies to all of them.

Post Diamond&Pearl, Trainers, Supporters, and Stadiums were given distinct categories. However, Pokemon Tools and Technical Machines are still sub-classes of trainer cards. Therefore, Vileplume UD's Allergy Flower blocks:

~Trainer cards (plain), such as Warp Point
~Technical Machines
~Pokemon Tools, such as Expert Belt

It does NOT block:

~Supporter cards (no matter when they were released)
~Stadium cards (no matter when they were released)

If this does not fully answer your question you may PM me with any other comments you have.