Is Water Absorb Vaporeon still good?

[Card Slinger J]

Thing is I forgot to get a Female Eevee with 5 IV's with Anticipation to breed for a Vaporeon with Hydration and since you can't pass down hidden abilities without Ditto that makes my current situation much worse since I have a Japanese Eevee with Anticipation that I wanted to pass down the hidden ability with my Female Eevee that's holding Destiny Knot and has 5 IV's.

I have the egg move Wish to breed with in order to get the Vaporeon I want. I know Hydration is only good in Drizzle teams which seems like they probably got neutered in Gen VI. Water Absorb is still good for switching into Pokemon that hit with Water Type moves but the downside is that it could still get crippled with Status unless If it's in a Drizzle Team or sets up Rain Dance with Power Herb with Hydration.

 

[King Arceus]

I think Water Absorb is the better of the two abilities Vaporeon is able to get. Getting a type immunity lets you have a free switch on a correct predict. It also is very useful in doubles or triples where Surf is one of the better moves to use. Relying on weather for its ability to do anything is singles is a liability problem unless you are putting the move Rain Dance on it.

 

[Equinox]

Water Absorb is a good option, as type immunities are very important, and, for the most part, let you wall stuff like Scald and Hydro Pump. I like it, but honestly I'd prefer Hydration, as it is guaranteed you don't have to suffer the effects of status moves, and really lets you become a wall via Rest abuse.

 

[One Approved]

I agree with King Arceus. Water Absorb is nearly always the superior option. The only way Hydration works is if Rain is up, and Drizzle has been nerfed this generation so that it's on a timer. Even then, using Wish/Protect is still almost always superior to Rest + Hydration because it's almost as reliable, and it can be passed to teammates. (Which is even more in Vappy's favor when you consider that it passes the highest HP Wishes in OU after Blissey and Chansey.) Even last generation when rain was permanent, Water Absorb was still the preferred ability.

 

[DNA]

I'll put it this way: You only use Hydration when you're using the Rest-Drizzle set. In all other circumstances you use Water Absorb.
And with Drizzle's power lessened, that tips things further towards Water Absorb. Hydration is only for 1 specific set.

 

[bacon]

The Water Absorb set looks something like:

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Ice Beam / Roar / Toxic

A Hydration set would look much the same, but with Rain Dance and Rest in the first two slots. Politoed has dropped off the face of the earth, so you will only get any mileage out of Hydration if you use Rain Dance (or bring your own Politoed, but I don't recommend that).

Last slot is interchangeable. Ice Beam is to make sure Dragonite doesn't have an easy time with you, Roar to discourage setup sweepers in general, and Toxic to stall things that Vaporeon could otherwise not touch.

Vaporeon is a pretty decent Pokemon but it absolutely hates the existence of Ferrothorn and Tentacruel, so you really want a way of countering these guys and bringing Rapid Spin / Defog support. Excadrill is probably the best spinner to partner Vaporeon with due to the type synergy.