Pearls retain the lore of the pearled player, and show as having health and decay etc after the player has been freed. The only way (or only reliable way) to know if a pearl has been freed (especially if by accident) is to left click the pearl while it is in your hotbar (or something like that). You can have a pearl that has been freed, and move it around an inventory and have no idea it is actually freed because it still shows the lore.
This may be due to the fact that a pearl can be freed, but the player is not actually free until they login. So having a pearl that says the player is pearled is a total falsehood, considering you do not actually have the player pearled.
Pearls retain the lore of the pearled player, and show as having health and decay etc after the player has been freed. The only way (or only reliable way) to know if a pearl has been freed (especially if by accident) is to left click the pearl while it is in your hotbar (or something like that). You can have a pearl that has been freed, and move it around an inventory and have no idea it is actually freed because it still shows the lore.
This may be due to the fact that a pearl can be freed, but the player is not actually free until they login. So having a pearl that says the player is pearled is a total falsehood, considering you do not actually have the player pearled.