Politoed had a somewhat wider selection of offensive moves than Water-types like Milotic and Vaporeon. At least it had options beyond Water, Ice, and Hidden Power: Focus Blast for Ferrothorn and Psychic for Water/Poison-types were pretty satisfying. Of course, there were no more choices beyond those two, unless you wanted Hidden Power Electric to hit Water/Flying-types or... Mud Shot. The thinking behind that move was a little like Rock Tomb Gligar: first lower your Speed below mine, then trade blows using my excellent bulk. Ground also had fairly broad coverage, letting it hit Electric-types that came in to score a knockout rather than wall it, while covering Water/Poison-types on the side.
In any case, filling four attacking slots was easy enough, and carrying a Choice item did not necessarily mean running four attacks. Choice Scarf and Haze worked quite well together.
Politoed's Attack reached 75, the same as Slowbro's, so it could use Belly Drum for an explosive boost. Z-Splash was another option, but its biggest problem remained its Speed. To use it this way, it was best to pass it a Speed boost, and preferably use Z-Belly Drum to set up. Its coverage was similar to that of most physical Water-type attackers-Water, Ice, and Ground, nothing more-so there was no particular reason you had to use Politoed.
In double battles, Politoed naturally still served as a weather setter. Unlike Pelipper, it lacked Wide Guard and U-turn, but a bulky Perish Song user that also set weather was simply too good a partner for Mega Gengar. Its lesser vulnerability to Electric attacks and Rock Slide generally made it easier for Politoed to stay on the field than Pelipper. Having hands also let it use Encore and Helping Hand, and it could throw out an Icy Wind or use Reversal after