Hugh begins to reminisce once the Team Plasma members are gone- about something that happened five years ago.  Team Plasma, he says, stole the Purrloin that was given to his little sister as a present, and he was unable to do anything about it.  This, he says, is why he wants to be strong.

Turning, the brunet compliments you on your battle skills and heals your entire team.  He then encourages you to keep improving, fill up your Pokedex, and back him up- since he’s going to be counting on you from now on.  With that Hugh heads off into Nimbasa City.

Head West into the gate, where you’re informed of a gathering of performers on Route 5, then continue to Route 5 itself.  Bianca stops you before you can go too far, and approaches to hand you the HM for Fly.  She’ll then explain to you about Hidden Grottoes, and pause when she hears something- a pokemon in the trees.  She leads you off to the North a short way, on a path that leads back into a wooded area.  Then she points out a spot where a path can be found.  This leads to a Hidden Grotto containing a Minccino.

On your arrival in the Hidden Grotto, Bianca declares that the Pokemon here, since it’s in a hidden place like this, must be amazing in some way.  She gushes over the discovery for a moment, then heads out to find other hidden grottoes, leaving you there with the Minccino.  This being a Hidden Grotto, the Minccino has the Hidden Ability for Minccino- Skill Link.  Skill Link combines in powerful ways with Minccino and Cinccino, thanks to their use of Tail Slap- which becomes a guaranteed five hits at 37.5 power for such a pokemon, hold item notwithstanding.  Fortunately, as a level 21 pokemon, it doesn’t have that move yet- making it possible to capture it without crippling injury to your team.  Expect more on Hidden Grottoes in a later article- suffice to say for now, they often contain expensive or rare items, and less often contain pokemon of certain varieties with Hidden Abilities.  Often these pokemon are of fairly high level, so expect a challenge if you try to capture them.