Empoleon's primarily a special attacker, so for your main Water move you'll probably have either Hydro Pump, Scald, or Surf (HP for the most damage, but unreliable; Scald for the nice burn chance; Surf for the utility in the overworld, decent damage, and hitting everything in doubles). You can also run Aqua Jet in addition to one of those special moves since priority is always nice and it can make use of your ability. Eventually you're gonna want to teach Flash Cannon since its one of the only special Steel moves out there, but unfortunately you don't get the TM until your 17th gym battle, so you might be waiting a while. In the meantime, I usually leave it with Metal Claw since its the only Steel move you get and its better than nothing, especially since its physical and works with Defiant too. I'd generally say this last slot would be for Ice Beam, but since the TM for it isn't available yet, I usually use the tutor in Agate Circus to teach it Icy Wind since it's a pretty good move even with the lack of power. You could also use the last moveslot for another special move like Grass Knot or another of the above Water moves, or you could go with an extra physical move like Brick Break or Shadow Claw. (The above reply also makes a good point about the Swamp Field activating Defiant, and I've even found, probably a bug, that the field actually activates Defiant twice per turn for some reason, so if you come across a Grass starter you'd like to use maybe keep that in mind)