User blog comment:ChishioKunrin/My view on Dust (so far)/@comment-24620600-20140307092353/@comment-4010415-20140307113319

If you look closer, in episode 1, it seems that he's not even holding the crystal. So I'm not sure if this means you can channel a dust crystal's energy through any kind of contact without having to hold it, or what. If this is the case, then he could have had one with him in episode 16, in case any more meddling "brats" showed up.