finally solo'd an hydro pump vaporeon

Congrats! Same thing here, can take down Aqua Tail and Water Pulse but not Hydro Pump. Just waiting for Raikou to come here

I think you did the right thing. That Raikou easily deserves level 30, and you will have plenty of time to get the dust and rare candies back before you need to power up a better one. I did the same thing yesterday, needed a third Tyranitar and I have almost no chance to get to the raids. Caught one with 84% and 13 attack but it has Bite/Crunch. So taking it to level 30 and meanwhile I wait for a better one, I can gather nice Gengars and Alakazams from solo raids.

Aqua Tail is great for dodging against something like HS Snorlaxes.

Heres my fool proof vaporeon counter. 100 percent catch rate no dodging
Lvl 30 Zap Bolt 93IV
Lvl 30 Zap Bolt 93IV
Lvl 30 Raikou Charge 96IV
Lvl 30 Raikou Charge 96IV
Lvl 39 Egg Bullet/Solar 100 IV
Lvl 39 Dragon DT/O(Hurricane) 100 IV