a(13) = 165394 is a significant outlier from the generally expected trend, which can be conjectured to be 6*2^n*gamma, where gamma is the Euler-Mascheroni constant A001620. Additionally, the next b > a(13) such that b^(6*2^n) - b^(3*2^n) + 1 is prime is 165836, which is remarkably close to a(13). - Serge Batalov, Jan 24 2018